No Greater Gift
by blucougar57
Summary: Whilst training the two newest members of his team, Jack Harkness is confronted by a stunning revelation from a past that he doesn't remember. Sequel to "Another World".
1. Prologue

A/N: _Here is the first chapter of my NaNo story. I'll be posted it gradually, because despite reaching 50,000 words, it isn't finished yet. Damn my muse. Now, it's not absolutely necessary, but I would recommend reading my story "Another World" before this one. Otherwise, there are certain references, and the inclusion of some new characters that won't make a lot of sense. You can find it through by checking out my profile page on this site.  
This is a cross-over fic with Law & Order: Criminal Intent. I'm posting this sequel at the Torchwood sites, because it is most definitely a Torchwood story - not a Criminal Intent story.  
I've marked it with an adult rating, because although it starts off relatively mild, there will be chapters later on with explicit sex, and porbably graphic descriptions of violence and other nasty stuff. Hope you enjoy it...._

_

* * *

_

_Unknown location  
Undisclosed time_

The new safe house was a dive, even by his standards. After so many months of moving in and out of crappy little houses with dank, smelly rooms and extremely questionable decor, he took all of two minutes to conclude that this was the worst place yet. There were just three rooms — bedroom, bathroom and a room that he figured was supposed to be the living room. There was nothing but artificial light, because what few windows the place had were completely shuttered to protect the occupants inside from anyone nosey enough to be poking around.

The artificial lighting was too bright, too harsh, too everything, and it was giving him a bloody headache. Of course, the alternative was complete darkness, and that was no better, needless to say.

Bloody dark ages, it was, and he couldn't risk utilising anything from his own time to brighten the situation any — literally or figuratively — because it would only bring their pursuers right to them. It was depressing, and that was putting it very mildly.

Joss Alderley sighed heavily and dropped down onto the crappy couch in the crappy living room of the crappy safe house with a dramatic thud. He was a lithe and wiry man ordinarily, but months on the run had stripped what little fat he'd still had from his body, leaving him looking almost skeletal in appearance. He'd given up looking too closely in the mirror each day at himself. It was simply too depressing.

After months in places with no decent facilities for washing, his hair looked like limp, overcooked pasta, his face was sallow, and he constantly looked like he had a half-grown beard. The latter was the unfortunate result of not having access to a decent razor, let alone the facilities that he was normally used to.

He wasn't even sure how long they'd been on the run, now. It had been long enough that he occasionally found himself questioning the loyalty that kept him from simply giving up and handing himself and his charge over. But then, he'd look at the precious thing he'd been given to protect, and he'd see the face of his best friend, and all thoughts of surrender fled his mind.

To give up now... or at all... would be the worst kind of betrayal, and he just couldn't do it. He'd been entrusted with this task, and he'd made a promise that he could not willingly break. No, there would be no surrendering, no matter how many crappy houses they had to go through; no matter how washed out his skin got from the shitty fluorescent lighting; no matter how bleak the situation began to look.

He caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eyes, and looked up from where he sat on the grubby, stained couch to see the reason for his force seclusion coming around the corner, cuddling a ragged looking teddy bear. It was the one personal item that had been salvaged before the agents came after them, however many months ago it had been.

"Unna!"

He smiled, despite himself, and reached out to pick the child up as she toddled towards him, arms outstretched in innocent supplication.

"Hey, little button. You should be asleep, cheeky little monkey."

The little girl threw her arms around his neck and hung on tightly. It was only then, as he felt wetness against his neck, that he realised that she was crying.

"What's the matter, baby? Bad dreams?"

"Dada," she whimpered. Her voice was muffled by his shoulder, and was soon followed by a fresh flood of tears.

She had bad dreams a lot, and it wasn't entirely surprising, given the circumstances that had seen him take unofficial custody of her. He cradled her against him, not expecting an answer. It wasn't so much that she wasn't old enough to speak. As near as he knew, she was around three years old, going by the old Earth calendar, and that was plenty old enough for her to be chattering away. She did talk, too. She talked a hell of a lot, but the bottom line was that it didn't matter how much or how little she talked. When she did speak, it was in a strange language that was a hybrid mix of fifty-first century English and another language that he was entirely unfamiliar with.

Oh, she seemed to understand everything he said, but it seemed she simply had no desire to learn to speak English. Only a few words were distinguishable to his ears. 'Unna' was one that he had concluded to mean 'Uncle' and he was quite happy to accept that, regardless of whether it was true or not. The other that she used most was 'Dada', and the meaning of that was painfully obvious. It damned near broke his heart that it was something he was powerless to do anything about.

And so Joss simply held her as she cried, and murmured nonsense words of comfort to the little girl.

Slowly, the tears eased, and she leaned back from him, staring up at him with intense green eyes that seemed to look straight through him.

"Dada?"

Joss sighed again, and brushed the almost jet black, silver-streaked hair back from her face. She was a truly beautiful child, he reflected sadly, much like the china dolls that he'd seen pictures of in the more ancient history books of Old Earth. She looked fragile, as though the wrong move might just break her into irreparable pieces.

Fragile, however, did not equate to helpless.

He nearly laughed at the thought of this child being helpless, when nothing could have been farther from the truth. The truth was terrifying, and enough to just about stop his heart if he let himself think too heavily on it. The problem was, the ones pursuing them were all too aware of just how not helpless this child was, as well, and they were determined to do anything to get their filthy claws on her — even if it meant chasing her through time itself. Time and space were no boundaries to those bastards, Joss reflected bitterly, and it was their corrupt determination that had resulted in an innocent little girl being deprived of the only parent she'd known.

He felt sick to think about it, and the grim truth was that he didn't even know whether the child's father was still alive. He hoped he was. Gods, he hoped so... and yet, he knew better than to hope. The Agency was ruthless, and he knew for a fact that his friend had not escaped before they came for him. It had only been a miracle that the little girl had been with him at the time, and he recalled the day bitterly.

He'd responded to a call from his friend, acutely aware of the distress in the other man's voice as they spoke over what Joss now knew had been a tapped communications line. Oh, the request had been simple enough. Could he come and pick Eleya up and take her out for a couple of hours? Maybe take her to the Tabor Viewing Platform, and treat her to some Granerium ice cream. She'd apparently been asking for days, but Dada wasn't well, and he didn't have the energy to leave the house.

Joss had agreed easily enough. He loved Eleya, even though their ability to communicate was limited to 'Unna', 'Dada', 'hungry' and 'home'. Turning up at their little home, he'd soon realised that his friend hadn't been kidding about being unwell. He'd been pale, sweating, and overcome with the shakes.

Just a case of Agiean Flu, Joss had been assured. Nothing to worry about. He'd be over it in a day or so, but it was cruel to keep Eleya cooped up inside. Not to mention, he really wanted to avoid her getting sick as well.

And so Joss had taken her out for what had turned out to be a very pleasant few hours. It was only when he brought her back to an empty house that had been thoroughly trashed that he realised the frightening truth.

The Agiean Flu line had been just that — a line. Oh, Joss didn't doubt for a moment that his buddy had been sick, but a little discreet probing had unearthed that the illness had been man-made, and not a result of natural causes. A friend of a friend of a friend had made inquiries on the sly, and he'd eventually found his way to a vendor who had been 'convinced' to spike the guy's coffee with a non-fatal but still debilitating synthetic microbe.

The vendor had been unrepentant for his actions, saying that the credits he'd been paid were more than worth it. Joss had answered that callous statement by beating the son of a Terrilian senseless.

The end result was the same, though. The poor bastard must have realised what had happened as soon as the illness overtook him. He had known they were coming for them, Joss had concluded, and he'd also known that if he'd fled with his little girl, they would have been very quickly captured. And so, he'd done the only thing he could think of — he'd given care of his daughter to his best friend, trusting him to look after her and keep her safe from those who wanted to exploit her.

Joss felt sick every time he thought about it. He didn't know whether Eleya's dada was alive or dead, whether he was still in the hands of the agency, or whether he might have somehow managed to escape. He doubted it, though. If the guy had escaped, he would have found them. Unless...

He tried to shut that thought down before it could take hold. He didn't want to consider the alternative. It was simply too painful to consider.

"Dada..." Eleya whispered again, staring at him with that mournful expression. Joss hugged her to him again, and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

"I'm sorry, baby. No Dada. But I bet wherever he is, he's missing you something fierce."

He didn't try to say anything about Dada coming for her soon, because he knew in reality that the odds were she would never see her father again. The Agency... The bloody Agency....

"Fuckers," he whispered bitterly, feeling his own eyes burning as Eleya buried her face in his shoulder once more.

He sank back into the couch, the little girl in his arms, and began to hum softly to soothe her. Gradually, he felt her relax against him, and eventually slip into a light sleep. He made no effort to get up and put her back to bed, though. Instead, he continued to cuddle her to him, taking comfort from the way she so trustingly snuggled in against him. Gradually, his eyelids grew heavy and he allowed himself to be lulled into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Joss awoke to a piercing beeping sound. He stirred, and grunted softly as his sleep-fogged mind first registered the irritating noise, followed soon by the realisation that his left arm was numb. Grimacing, he carefully shifted the sleeping girl so that he could slip his arm out from behind her, and reach his vortex manipulator. It technically wasn't his manipulator. It had actually belonged to a young Agent who had stupidly assumed he could bring them in on his own.

The poor kid was dead before he could even pull out his weapon. Joss had almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

He'd paused just long enough to divest the kid of his manipulator before they'd fled yet another safe house, and after hours upon hours of tinkering — interspersed with much cursing and threatening of inanimate objects — Joss had finally managed to get the manipulator to working order, so that he could use it without it alerting the Agency to their whereabouts. And now, it was beeping at him.

He lifted the flap, and felt his heart skip a beat. It was the proximity alarm that had been triggered. Someone was approaching the house. Someone who was not likely to be a friend.

"Lee-lee, wake up," he whispered, giving the little girl a gentle shake to rouse her. She stirred and peered up at him sleepily, clutching her bear to her chest.

"Unna?"

"Bad people, Lee. We have to go, baby. Got to get out of here, quick."

He doubted she really understood anything beyond 'bad people', but that was more than enough. Her eyes widened in what would have almost been a comical gesture, had the situation been any less serious, and she scrambled off the couch.

Getting up, he scooped the child up into his arms and headed for the bedroom, and the hidden exit that was to be used only in an emergency. As he went, he cursed silently in every language he knew. They'd only been in this particular house for less than a week. How the hell had they been found so fast?

It was a question that he didn't have time to contemplate. Angry and more than a little scared, Joss held Eleya with one arm and shoved boxes out of the way with the other, revealing a trapdoor in the floor. He was just reaching for the handle when the sound of the door crashing inwards forced a yelp out of him, and a shriek of fright out of Eleya. Too late, he realised just how long the proximity alarm must have been going for before he was actually woken by it.

"Unna?" Eleya whimpered, clinging to him in terror.

"Hold on, baby," he murmured. Abandoning the trapdoor, he stumbled through into the bathroom and slammed carefully shut the door behind them, sealing the door locked with his stolen manipulator. With any luck, the intruders would think they had gone down through the trapdoor, and it might buy them a few extra precious minutes.

There was no shouting, or any hint of talking at all from the invading Agents, not that Joss expected any less. These men and women were professionals in every sense of the word, and they had no need to be shouting orders back and forth. Joss suspected he had a couple of minutes at the most before they were found, and it was barely enough time to do what he needed to do.

"Unna..." Eleya cried in miserable fright. He didn't respond, desperate to get the coordinates right that he was plugging frantically into the manipulator's key pad. He only had to get one digit wrong, and the consequences could be beyond disastrous.

A loud thud against the door startled him almost into tumbling backwards into the wall, and his fingers skimmed inadvertently over the key pad. There was a flare of light behind them as the manipulator triggered a time shift. Joss looked from it to the child in growing panic. He couldn't be a hundred percent certain that he'd got the coordinates right... Hell, he couldn't even be seventy percent certain.

"Open the door, Alderley!" a distinctly female voice spoke up on the other side of the locked door. "Surrender yourself and the child, immediately!"

"Like hell I will," Joss muttered. "Oh... shit..."

The time shift was already starting to fade again, and he knew damned well that he did not have the time to input more coordinates. They would have the door open in a matter of moments, and then it would be over, for the both of them. He himself did not matter, but if the child was allowed to fall into Agency hands, then his life wouldn't be worth living, even if he somehow escaped alive.

He heard the distinct sound of the door being unlocked remotely, and knew he had only seconds to decide what to do. In that split second, he made his choice. Even as the door opened, Joss ripped the manipulator off his wrist and shoved it into the hands of the child beside him. Then, as the time shift began to fade entirely, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her through the portal.

The last thing he heard before the portal winked out of existence, and before he felt the piercing sting of a tranquiliser dart, was the heartbreaking scream of a three year-old as she was delivered to an unknown world, an unknown time, and an unknown fate.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	2. A New Beginning

_New York City  
Present Day_

When Alex Eames showed up at Bobby Goren's inner city apartment early that morning, Bobby could have been forgiven for thinking that she was taking a round the world cruise. The amount of luggage she had with her beggared belief, but all the same Bobby was wise enough not to openly criticise. Especially knowing she was not above retaliating with physical violence, by way of a swift thump to the arm.

Even so, the look on his face must have spoken in volumes, for Alex propped her hands on her hips and glowered threateningly at him.

"What?"

Bobby held his hands up defensively, immediately recognising the warning signs of danger. He'd been on the receiving end of her anger too many times not to realise when he was treading on extremely thin ice.

"Nothing," he told her. "Nothing at all. I wasn't going to say anything."

For several long seconds, they stood staring at each other, caught in a stalemate. Bobby's heart pounded as he waited for her to react. He had been looking forward to today with an eagerness that, not so long ago, he thought he had the ability to feel. The last thing he wanted was to kick off a new day, and a new start, by getting into a fight with his partner.

Just as he was certain that he was going to find himself in deep over his head, Alex's shoulders slumped and she looked at the bags she'd brought with her in visible embarrassment.

"I brought too much, didn't I?"

Bobby offered her what he fervently hoped was a sympathetic smile.

"Alex, we're only going to be gone for a couple of weeks. Jack said we wouldn't need anything other than comfortable clothes that we don't care about getting dirty."

"Or completely trashed," Alex retorted, recalling a murmured warning from Ianto Jones. Bobby smiled wryly.

"Hopefully not. But seriously, what did you pack?"

"There's not just clothes in there, Bobby," Alex protested. "Think about it, pal. Do you really want to see what I look like after two weeks without makeup, and no clean clothes?"

Bobby's eyes seemed to glaze over very slightly as he considered that, and Alex poked at him threateningly.

"Don't you dare. I don't want to hear it."

Bobby chuckled softly, and rubbed her shoulder soothingly.

"Look, go into my bedroom, and try to consolidate, okay?"

"You really think Jack would freak?"

"No, not Jack. I'm thinking about Ianto."

Alex snorted.

"Are you kidding me? If anyone understands, it'd be him."

"Well... Look at it this way. It isn't as though we're travelling conventionally."

That gave Alex pause, and after a long moment's consideration, she gave in with some reluctance.

"Okay, fine. I'll consolidate."

The doorbell rang, startling them both.

"Go on, go answer it," Alex murmured, suddenly sounding a little on the subdued side. "That'll be Jack and Ianto. I'll go sort this out."  
Bobby watched her go before making his way over to the door, and opening it to greet his new employer.

"Mike?"

Detective Mike Logan stood on the other side of the door, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

"Hey, Bobby. How're you doing?"

"Fine. I'm fine. Uh... Not to sound rude, but are you here for a reason? It's just that we're a little busy."

Mike didn't appear the least bit disconcerted, and nodded past Bobby into the apartment.

"Mind if I come in?"

Bobby had no opportunity to say either yes or no. Mike stepped past him without waiting for an answer, and walked into the apartment. Biting back a sigh, Bobby paused to glance out into the hallway, as though hoping that his new boss would magically appear to rescue him from any ensuing uncomfortable conversations. No such luck, and Bobby reluctantly pushed the door shut again and went to face his former colleague.

Mike stood in the living room, staring at the duffle bag that Bobby had dropped in the corner the previous night before going to bed.

"Going somewhere, pal?" Mike queried. He sounded casual enough, but underneath the easy tone there was a hint of steel. Bobby very briefly considered lying, before deciding that it wasn't worth the effort. Not to mention, Mike was far too good a cop to get away with lying to.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Alex and I are heading out of town for a couple of weeks."

"Taking some time out?"

"If you like."

Mike's expression hardened fractionally.

"Bullshit, Bobby," he growled, finally letting that hardness through in his tone. Bobby did sigh, then, and walked around to sit down in his favourite chair with a heavy thud.

"What did you want, Mike?"

"I want to know what the hell is going on! You walked out yesterday... just walked out! Now, I get that you're feeling a little restless, but Alex? I mean, what the hell? Tell me you really didn't just quit!"

"Yes, we quit, Mike. We handed our resignations to Ross, effective immediately."

"But why?" Mike burst out. "Damn it, Bobby, you're throwing away your life here! Not just your career."

To his frustration, Bobby didn't appear the least bit irritated. Rather, he looked to Mike as though he was about to start laughing.

"I haven't thrown away anything, Mike. Neither has Alex. Do you really think that we'd just walk away from the NYPD with nothing to go to?"

Silence met Mike's words. Then, finally, Mike shut his eyes and groaned softly.

"Fuck. You didn't. Please, tell me you didn't."

"Didn't what?"

Mike looked up raggedly as Alex emerged into the room, a bemused look on her face.

"Please, tell me it isn't true that you let yourself get suckered by that lunatic Harkness?"

"He's not a lunatic, Mike," Bobby said softly, his voice taking on a slight edge. Mike either ignored it, or was completely oblivious.

"Bullshit he's not. Okay, so I have to concede to the whole not being able to..."

He was cut off when Alex coughed loudly and conspicuously. Mike blanched, recalling the oath he'd sworn three months previous not to speak of what he knew again. He paused to gather his thoughts before going on. When he spoke again, it was with a forced calm.

"Look... I know that Ross has been an ass lately. He knows it, and I think you both gave him a frigging heart attack yesterday. So... you got what you wanted, you shook the guy up. Hell, you shook everyone up. We get the point. You feel under-valued, and unappreciated. Now come back to work? Please? For my sanity, if not Ross's."

Bobby and Alex exchanged amused looks.

"He hasn't filed our resignation letters yet, has he?" Bobby asked, with that infuriating little smirk. Mike smiled wryly, despite himself.

"How'd you guess? No, he hasn't. They were still sitting on his desk when I met with him this morning."

"This morning?" Alex echoed, and Mike winced a little, as though he'd suddenly realised his gaffe.

"Yeah... Um..."

"He told you to come and see us, didn't he?" Alex asked. "He asked you to come and talk to us, and try to talk us into going back to the Squad."

It was no question, and Mike decided it was pointless to try and play ignorant. Doing so would only see him digging a deeper grave for himself.

"Yeah, he might have. That doesn't mean I'm here just for him, though. I'm here because I don't want you to leave."

"Mike, we appreciate it," Bobby said gently, sounding suspiciously to Mike as though he was just humouring him. "We really do. But..."

"But you're not coming back," Mike said flatly.

Bobby answered with a solemn shake of his head.

"No. We're not. I'm sorry, Mike, but we've made our decision. We both feel it's time to move on to something new."

"Okay, I get that... I suppose... But Torchwood? Seriously? C'mon, Bobby, you really can't sit there and tell me with a straight face that you've joined fucking Torchwood!"

"Is it that hard to believe, Mike?" Alex asked. Mike snorted loudly.

"Hard to believe? Are you kidding me, Alex? Damn it, it's fucking impossible! How the hell could the both of you have let yourselves get suckered in by Jack fucking Harkness?"

"I like to think it's my charm, dashing good looks and enigmatic personality. What do you think, Ianto?"

Three pairs of eyes turned swiftly to find Captain Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones standing just inside the doorway of Bobby's apartment, both men wearing amused smirks.

"It's the pheromones," Ianto deadpanned. "You have an unfair advantage, sir. We're helpless to resist you."

Jack's face broke into a wide grin, and he looked cheerfully back at Mike.

"Well, there you go, then."

Looking slightly green, Mike got awkwardly to his feet.

"I think I'd better go."

He stalked past Jack and Ianto, twisting his body as he went to avoid even brushing against Jack. He paused with his hand on the door, and looked back grimly at his two former colleagues.

"I just hope to God you both know what you're doing. And as for you..." His gaze went to Jack, hard and uncompromising. It was the same look, Ianto reflected ruefully, that the man had had on his face the morning that he'd decked Jack in the squad room. "If anything happens to them, I'm gonna hold you personally responsible."

Jack's smile faded minutely.

"Not the first time I've heard that line."

"Yeah, well, add this to it. Anything happens to them, and I don't care how long it takes. I promise you I'll find a way to make you die permanently. Do you understand me, Harkness?"

Jack's smile was gone entirely by then, and his eyes glinted with some unfathomable emotion that Mike felt he ought to understand, but couldn't.

"I get you, Detective."

"Good," Mike muttered. "Just... good."

He paused, sparing Bobby and Alex one last, almost pitying look, before turning and exiting the apartment.

"We're sorry about that, Jack," Bobby said quietly once the door had closed behind Mike. "We weren't expecting him to show up this morning."

Jack shook his head and spoke in a soft, sincere tone.

"Don't apologise. He cares about what happens to you. Be grateful for that. Don't let that friendship slide, if you can help it. You never know when it might make a difference."

"Don't start getting maudlin on us," Alex said with a short laugh. "He's old school Irish. When we get back, we'll get together and shout him to a whiskey or two, and everything will be fine. He'll adjust, particularly once he realises that with us gone from Major Case, he becomes Lead Detective."

Jack chuckled.

"I like your attitude, Alex. Although… I don't think I've ever been accused of being maudlin before."

"First time for everything," Ianto retorted, pointedly ignoring the withering look that Jack fired at him.

"I don't like wasting time on unnecessary sentimentality," Alex said with a smile and a shrug. Bobby grinned, unable to resist an obvious remark.

"Except where your nephew's concerned."

"Shut up, Goren," Alex said flatly.

"You have a nephew?" Ianto queried. "How old is he?"

"Three, going on four," Alex answered. She motioned to a framed photo on Bobby's mantle. "That's him."

"He looks like you," Jack remarked as he took a closer look. Alex smiled proudly.

"That's probably because I gave birth to him."

"Surrogate?" Ianto wondered, and Alex nodded.

"Yes. My sister couldn't conceive naturally, so I offered to be a surrogate. One of the best decisions I've ever made."

"Jack?" Ianto asked quietly, sensing a slightly subdued air about the Captain. When Jack turned to him, though, there was no hint that anything at all was wrong. The Captain looked from Bobby to Alex with an expectant air, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Have either of you eaten yet?"

"Not yet," Bobby answered for them both. "Breakfast tends to be bagels and coffee at the squad room."

"Lots of coffee," Alex added ruefully, to which Ianto responded with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Alex. Coffee is something we can definitely cater for."

Jack clapped his hands together, showing the first hints of impatience.

"All right, people. I'd been intending on suggesting we go and get something to eat before we leave, but given how teleportation via vortex manipulator feels, that might not be such a great idea."

"Is it really that bad?" Bobby asked, though there didn't appear to be any sense of dread in his query. Jack grimaced, remembering with some discomfort the ugly sensations produced when using the device during the Harold Saxon debacle.

"Yeah. It really is," he confirmed. "Luckily, though, the effects only last for a few minutes. But trust me, if you'd had anything to eat, you'd only be losing it again very quickly."

"Charming," Alex remarked dryly.

"Trust me," Jack said with a smirk and a wink. "We're not in the habit of being judgmental, but there's nothing to flatten you more than throwing up in front of your new colleagues. So, that said, grab your bags, kids. Time to go."

"Kids…?" Alex grumbled, frowning with mock annoyance. Jack laughed.

"How old are you, Alex? Thirty-eight?"

"Something like that," she admitted slightly awkwardly.

"Against my hundred and seventy odd years? You're just a baby, gorgeous. Take it as a compliment. Ianto does."

"As if I have a choice," Ianto retorted, but the sparkle in his eyes told them he wasn't insulted at all by the Captain's words.

"So, what do we do?" Bobby asked, and it took some effort for Alex not to laugh. No matter how casual his words, there was no hiding the eagerness in his face. It lit his features up like a Christmas tree, and took years off him.

"Grab your bags," Jack told them with yet another wide grin. Bobby hefted his duffle bag up off the floor, while Alex hurried to grab the two bags she'd consolidated her own belongings into. Jack raised an eyebrow at the sight of the bulging bags. "Got enough there, Alex?"

"Just the necessities," Alex answered flatly, and her expression dared him to argue. The Captain knew better, though, and he merely chuckled.

"Okay, then. We're good to go. Everyone, cosy up, now." He held out the wrist to which his vortex manipulator was strapped. "Time for a little hands-on experience."

"Oh, you didn't just say that," Alex retorted, and promptly switched her attention to Ianto before Jack had the opportunity to respond. "How the hell do you put up with him?"

To both her and Bobby's amusement, Ianto blushed red, and he shot a mock threatening glare in his lover's direction.

"Could you at least wait until we get home before you start up the harassment, sir?"

Jack laughed openly, then, and waggled his wrist in the air.

"Seriously, hands on the wrist strap. You need to all be touching it, or you'll just be left behind. And I don't want to leave anyone behind."

Exchanging amused grins, Bobby and Alex reached across and laid their hands over the strap, and Ianto placed his hand over theirs. Grinning widely and shaking his head in amusement, Jack placed his hand over Ianto's, though he pounced on the opportunity to rub the tip of one finger suggestively against the flesh of one of the two hands clasped beneath that of his lover. The detectives were consummate professionals, though. Whosever hand he stroked, the owner didn't so much as bat an eye.

Feeling surprisingly disappointed, Jack slipped a single finger underneath the cluster of hands and pressed a button that he knew instinctively by touch. There was the familiar, almost reassuring tugging sensation, and then the world around them disappeared in a haze of blue and white light.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	3. Arrival

"Oh my god..."

The moaned exclamation came from Alex, who stumbled directly into Jack's arms as they landed. He caught her and held her in a surprisingly chaste grip as she recovered her equilibrium.

"Easy," he murmured. "I told you, it twists your head around a little."

"A little?" she groaned, reaching up to rub gingerly at her head. "Thank God we didn't eat anything! I would definitely be throwing up right now."

Jack looked bemused as she stepped away from him slightly unsteadily.

"Okay, then. Bobby?"

"Fine, I think," Bobby muttered ruefully. He stood there stiffly for a long moment before a violent shudder rippled through him and he jerked his head sharply to the side, eliciting a cringe-worthy crack.

"Nice, Bobby," Alex muttered, to which he simply responded with a half smile and a shrug. After confirming that his two newest recruits were all right, Jack finally succumbed to a deep-set need and turned to Ianto.

"You okay, there?"

If anything, Ianto appeared bemused by the whole experience.

"Nothing that some specialist care can't fix," he remarked. Jack's face lit up as he easily caught the less than subtle innuendo in the statement. He sauntered up close to the younger man, momentarily forgetting that they weren't alone.

"Oh, really? So, if I did this..."

He slipped a hand around behind Ianto's neck, fingers lightly kneading the tender flesh at the base of Ianto's skull, and leaned in to kiss him softly.

"Ahem."

If either Jack or Ianto were startled, neither man let it show. Instead, Jack finished the kiss before drawing back a little, and grinning at the newcomer. Noticeably, he left his hand lingering at the back of Ianto's neck, his fingers affectionately teasing the young man's hair.

"Owen. Where are the girls?"

"Tosh and Gwen are currently out checking a rift alert in Splott," Owen stated flatly. "And if you're done molesting the tea boy, I would really appreciate a decent cup of coffee that hasn't come from Starbucks, or Gwen's instant coffee machine."

Ianto blanched, jerking away from Jack's touch.

"Her what?"

"You heard me," Owen grumbled. "Stupid woman thought it'd be a good way to... tide us over until you got home. Tosh and I have been taking it in turns to sneak out to Starbucks at least three times a day. We're almost ready to buy a share in the place." He paused, his gaze going to Bobby and Alex, who had thoroughly recovered from the shock of the teleportation, and were watching the scene before them with highly amused interest. "Oh, and welcome to the house of insanity, by the way. I hope that Harkness has given you fair warning about what you're in for."

"I think we have a reasonable idea," Alex said, with perhaps a touch more bravado than she was really feeling. Owen's lips twisted into a wry grin.

"You don't have a clue what you're walking into. Jack, you're a bastard. You know that, don't you?"

Jack stepped across and slung an arm around Owen's neck in what initially might have been taken for a friendly gesture. The way Owen winced as said arm tightened fractionally around his neck strongly suggested otherwise.

"Don't scare the newbies on their first day, Dr Harper. Or you might just find yourself cleaning out Janet's lodgings for the next six months."

Owen muttered something under his breath that none of them clearly understood, and most likely didn't want to understand, before turning and sloping back to the autopsy bay. Jack watched him go with obvious affection before turning back to the others, his megawatt grin back in place and as strong as ever.

"Okay. First thing's first. We'll get you checked into your rooms..."

"Isn't it a bit early for that?" Bobby wondered. Ianto coughed conspicuously.

"Yes, well, when he says rooms, he actually means the bay-side, two bedroom apartment on the other side of the Plass that he had me rent for you. Sometimes, it's necessary to..."

"Read between the lines?" Alex suggested lightly, and Ianto couldn't help but smile.

"Exactly."

"As I said," Jack went on, unperturbed by the interruption, "we'll get you checked in to your rooms, and then we'll go for that breakfast."

"It's one o'clock, you git!" Owen bellowed from the sanctity of the autopsy bay. Jack cheerfully ignored him.

"There's a great little cafe that serves all day breakfast. We can eat, and then you can get the grand tour, and meet Janet and Myfanwy."

"Myfanwy..." Alex said with a slight frown. "As in, the resident pterodactyl?"

Bobby's eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline.

"Pterodactyl? A real pterodactyl? Here?"

Jack nodded.

"That's right. She's probably asleep at the moment. Best time to meet her will be later this afternoon. I'll introduce you to Janet first. She's a little harder to deal with."

"I'll say," Owen piped up again. "She damn near took my arm off when I brought her food to her yesterday. Ungrateful..."

"Owen, don't you have something dead to cut up?" Jack demanded.

"Tell Ianto to bring me a decent cup of coffee, and I'll happily shut up."

Jack shook his head, and looked pleadingly at Ianto.

"Would you mind?"

Ianto smiled wryly.

"I'll meet you upstairs in the tourist office."

"Thankyou," Jack murmured, treating himself to another kiss before waving Bobby and Alex towards the cog door of the Hub.

"It doesn't create any problems?" Alex asked as they followed Jack into the corridor beyond the door. "You and Ianto being in a relationship, I mean."

Jack hesitated at that.

"Depends what you mean by problems."

"Well, aside from Owen mouthing off at you..." Alex ventured. "It doesn't cause any jealousy?"

Jack seemed to relax slightly, much to Bobby's interest.

"The others know I don't favour him in the field, but here in the office is a different matter, entirely. As for jealousy... I think Tosh thinks we're cute... Well, that kind of stands to reason, doesn't it? We do make one hot couple."

Behind him, Bobby glanced amusedly at Alex, who rolled her eyes and smiled. Jack went on, seemingly oblivious to the unspoken communications taking place behind him.

"Owen keeps accusing me of molesting Ianto, and keeping him from his true calling."

"Which would be...?" Bobby asked.

"Keeping him supplied with a continuous stream of coffee," Jack answered. "And Gwen... I think Gwen might have been jealous of Ianto at one point. She seemed to think there was something between her and me, when there really wasn't. I mean, I love her. I love all of them. But Ianto..."

"He's something special," Alex concluded gently for him. Jack paused just by the lift, and turned to look back at them. There was a smile on his face that was vastly different to the huge megawatt grins he'd been displaying all morning. It was a small smile of genuine satisfaction, fuelled by a very real love.

"Yes. He's something special. You got it in one, Alex. He's my saving grace."

"I can relate to that," Bobby murmured, favouring Alex with an equally affectionate look.

Jack led them into the lift, and from there into the tourist office.

"This is your front?" Bobby asked, eyeing their surroundings with curiosity. Jack nodded.

"It was literally just a facade until Ianto came along. He's the one who turned it into a genuine tourist office. Although, since he qualified as a field operative, we've had to keep it closed more often than not. But even just having it open a couple of hours a day keeps people from asking awkward questions."

"It also helps that we no longer have anyone ordering takeaway under the name of Torchwood," Ianto stated as he emerged into the office through the beaded curtain."

"Where did you come from?" Alex asked, startled.

"Stairs," Ianto explained as he buttoned up his coat. "Believe me, the lift is the preferable option."

Jack chuckled, and threw his arms out wide to encompass the shoulders of all three of his employees.

"C'mon, kids. Let's go get you two settled, and then we'll go for breakfast."

* * *

"Uh... You know, we usually don't have much more than a bagel for breakfast?" Alex asked an hour later, watching doubtfully as a plate was deposited in front of each of them, weighted down with a full English breakfast. Jack had insisted on ordering for them, something he had done out of earshot at the counter, and now Alex and Bobby knew why. Jack nodded as he enthusiastically dug into his own food.

"So you said. We have a motto in Torchwood..."

"We have several, actually," Ianto put in as he carefully separated the spinach on his plate from the scrambled eggs. Jack pulled a face in Ianto's direction before continuing on with what he'd started saying.

"Take it while you can get it. Meals aren't always regular, so eat up. We could have a major rift eruption, and pfft! End of the world is nigh, and lunch is history. So eat up, people. Enjoy it while you can, because believe me. This kind of peace and quiet never lasts long."

Bobby shrugged and began to eat. Alex hesitated a moment, watching Jack with a smirk. Slowly, he began to realise he was being watched, and the Captain looked up at her quizzically.

"What? Have I got food somewhere embarrassing?"

"I was just thinking..." Alex said, a wicked glint in her eyes. "That motto, take it while you can get it. I was just thinking, I bet you don't just apply that to food, do you?"

Bobby choked on a piece of sausage, while Ianto went beet red at the blatant innuendo. Jack just threw his head back and roared with laughter.

"You're good, Alex," Jack said as he wiped his eyes. "Oh, baby, you're good."

Alex looked sideways at Bobby, who was still coughing.

"You all right, Bobby?"

"Fine," he rasped. "Just... a little warning, next time?"

She grinned, and returned her attention to her meal, thoroughly satisfied with herself.

* * *

"You had a vegetarian breakfast," Bobby remarked to Ianto half an hour later as they walked away from the cafe, back in the direction of the Hub. Ianto stared ahead, his expression carefully neutral.

"I believe you're correct in that observation, Detective."

Bobby blinked, taken momentarily aback by the coolness of Ianto's tone. He sensed he'd just put his foot in it, proverbially speaking, but couldn't for the life of him understand why his words might have caused such a reaction.

"I'm sorry," he murmured with quiet sincerity. "I didn't mean to say anything to offend you."

Ianto drew in a long breath, and glanced askance at Bobby. The look on his face was regretful, but also cautious.

"You didn't, Bobby. Sorry. It's just a sensitive issue. Last year, we went to the countryside to investigate disappearances that we thought might have been related to the rift."

"It goes out that far?" Bobby asked in surprise. Ianto laughed softly, and shook his head.

"No, thankfully. Didn't know that until after the fact, though. But we did find out why people had been disappearing from the area. The villagers were cannibals. They were killing everyone that crossed their path, and using them for... you know."

"Got it," Bobby muttered, appalled by the revelation. "I'm sorry, Ianto."

"It's all right," Ianto assured him. He was quietly surprised at just how true that actually was; as though Bobby's unpretentious reaction and lack of insistence for further details had unlocked his tongue. "Tosh and I were captured first... Gwen and Owen a while after us... If it hadn't been for Jack, none of us would be here now."

Bobby looked away from Ianto, to where Jack was walking ahead with Alex. He was telling her something that had her grinning and shaking her head. He was more than a little surprised at the wicked streak that was appearing in his diminutive partner, while at the same time suspecting that he shouldn't be surprised at all. She, more so than anyone else, had always gone along easily with his schemes and plans, no matter how audacious or potentially offensive. It stood to reason that, in the presence of a boss who was literally a one-man innuendo squad, Alex would finally let her hair down and really let the snark fly.

He smiled, despite himself. God help Cardiff.

"He saved all of you?"

"In his standard dramatic fashion," Ianto said with a wry smile. "He crashed through the wall of the building we were being held in riding a bloody tractor, of all things."

Bobby lightly bit down on the inside of his cheek, trying his best to see that in a serious context, and failing miserably. Ianto caught the look on his face, and laughed softly.

"I know. It took some time, but we all laugh about it now. At the time, though, seeing him come through that wall, guns literally blazing, was the biggest relief I'd felt for a long time... and trust me when I say that at that point in time, I really wasn't on the best of terms with Jack. He busted through that wall, and he had a shotgun and his Webley, and he never missed a single shot. It was terrifying and beautiful at the same time. In all honesty, I didn't know who to be more frightened of; him, or those bloody cannibals."

"But he was there to save you," Bobby pressed. He thought he could understand what Ianto was saying, but at the same time he found it difficult to comprehend that Ianto could ever have been frightened of Jack. Ianto smiled faintly at one of the few good memories that he had of that horrifying time.

"Yes, he was. I remember, after he'd shut the villagers down, he came over to me, and he just held me. I was crying like a bloody baby... Although, in my defence, I'd just had a meat cleaver held to my throat. He held me until I'd stopped crying, and then he walked me out of that place, and afterwards, when we got back home, he stayed with me that whole night. He had no obligation to look after me, but he did anyway, and I loved him so much for that."

"He has a huge heart," Bobby whispered, and Ianto nodded.

"Yes. He does. It's just a shame that the one person whose opinion really matters to him can't see that."

It took Bobby a moment to comprehend the meaning behind Ianto's words, and to understand just who he was talking about.

"You're talking about the Doctor, aren't you?"

Ianto gave a slight nod, and lowered his voice even more, anxious to avoid having Jack overhear this part of their conversation, in particular.

"Yes, I am. He's responsible for everything that Jack has become, and yet he still dares to treat him like an irresponsible child."

Bobby frowned slightly, not quite able to equate that assessment with what he'd seen during his short time in the TARDIS.

"You were unconscious..." he said abruptly. Ianto raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"What do you mean?"

"After the Grysliaak was absorbed into the TARDIS, and we were moved to the medical bay. You were unconscious, and you didn't see how the Doctor reacted to the possibility that Jack might have been dead permanently."

"And how did he react?" Ianto asked, not quite able to keep his tone even.

"He panicked," Bobby said simply. "He looked as frightened as you did when we stumbled in on the Grysliaak attacking Jack in your hotel room."

Ianto fell quiet at that revelation. He considered for a long moment before speaking tersely.

"Maybe he did, but it doesn't change the fact that he's never made any effort to tell Jack to his face how important he is, and how well he's done. You should know how important it is to get verbal affirmation, Bobby. The Doctor hasn't done that, and it hurts Jack more than he'll ever willingly admit."

Bobby regarded Ianto curiously, surprised by the vehemence in his words.

"You really don't like him very much at all, do you?"

Discomfort coloured Ianto's features, and he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his coat. He had to keep reminding himself just how observant Bobby actually was… Although, he wasn't exactly making an effort to keep his feelings towards the Time Lord hidden, either.

"I just don't like what he's done to Jack," Ianto said tersely. "You know that Jack waited for more than a century to find him again after being abandoned? And when he did finally find him, the Doctor called him wrong!" The younger man shook his head in visible aggravation. "First that, and then he suffered a year of being labelled a freak of nature. The first night after Jack came home to us, I took him home to mine, because we couldn't go back to the Hub."

Bobby raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Ianto shook his head wearily. He really did not have the energy or the inclination to tell that story to his new colleague.

"Long story, and not a very pleasant one. Basically, though, that was the first time I was witness to the nightmares that Jack has. I mean, he'd always had nightmares, when he did sleep, but after he came back they were ten times worse, and the Doctor is at least partially responsible for that. What's worse is that he damn well knew how badly damaged Jack was, but he still stayed away from him. I don't know how he ended up being called the Doctor, but I don't believe he deserves to be called that. A doctor heals people. All he's ever done for Jack is to leave him broken. There are times when I wonder whether he really cares about Jack at all."

Bobby couldn't hold his tongue any longer upon hearing that last comment.

"That's not entirely true, Ianto. From what Jack has said, the Doctor is primarily responsible for him being the hero that he is today. And if it hadn't been for the Doctor, you and Jack would never have met each other."

"I know," Ianto muttered. "I hate him, but I'm grateful to him at the same time."

"Not to mention, he saved our sorry asses from the Grysliaak."

Ianto's jaw clenched slightly. Yes, he was painfully aware of that truth, as well. Then, on top of all that, he'd had a chance to speak privately to both Martha and Donna in the TARDIS, and they'd both told him the same thing – that the Doctor had literally abandoned everything else and come running the moment that he learnt of the trouble Jack was in.

"I concede that he may have some redeeming qualities," Ianto admitted with extreme reluctance, and Bobby clapped him lightly on the shoulder in encouragement.

"Hey!"

Both men looked up in surprise to find Jack and Alex were well ahead of them, and waiting near the tower. Jack's expression was a mixture of annoyance and amusement, and Ianto knew he would be in for quite the interrogation later on from his Captain. A glance at Bobby told him that the older man was expecting much the same from his feisty partner.

They crossed the remaining distance to where Jack and Alex waited for them, Jack tapping his foot impatiently against the stone pavement.

"When you're ready?" he asked, his voice heavily laced with sarcasm. "I mean, I wouldn't want to rush you. It's not like we have work to do, or anything…"

His complaint was silenced abruptly when Ianto leaned in and pressed a firm but chaste kiss to his lips.

"Shut up, Jack," Ianto told him lightly. "You're making a scene. It's unattractive."

Huffing a little, but at the same time unable to conceal a grin, Jack stepped up onto the pavement and motioned for the others to do the same.

"Hope heights aren't a bother for either of you," Jack remarked in an entirely too casual tone. Alex, for her part, snorted derisively.

"Not at all. Why?"

Jack grinned again, any and all irritation gone in the blink of an eye. It was disconcerting, Bobby and Alex both mused, just how quickly Jack's moods could shift.

"This is why."

To the credit of both Bobby and Alex, neither one so much as squeaked as the stone slab began its descent into the Hub. Bobby wavered minutely, and Jack caught him by the elbow to steady him.

"Easy there. Don't need you falling off on me," Jack said with a light chuckle. Bobby shook his head, but before he had a chance to respond, a shriek filled the air and a large, dark shadow passed over their heads.

"Pterodactyl?" Bobby queried, dry mouthed with shock. Ianto grinned, and nodded.

"Myfanwy, we call her. Jack and I caught her together."

"And it was that little escapade that convinced me to hire him," Jack added. He smiled with deep affection at Ianto. "Best decision I ever made."

The lift slid to a stop on the floor of the Hub, and they stepped off; the only hint of discomfort was in the speed with which Bobby left the paving stone.

"Not fond of heights, Bobby?" Jack queried.

"Something like that," he admitted. "I'm not particularly afraid of them, but I can take them or leave them."

"You'd prefer to leave them," Ianto concluded, and Bobby nodded uncomfortably.

"Yes."

He turned, and halted to find Alex staring at him piercingly.

"Alex…?"

"That day up on the high rise construction," she said quietly, a familiar frown on her face. "Ken Harris."

Bobby shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. It was painfully obvious that whatever was about to be said, Bobby didn't want to go there.

"What... What about him?"

If anything, Alex's expression hardened even further, and Bobby took an instinctive step back. Alex opened her mouth to say something, only to freeze as she realised that both Jack and Ianto were watching her with intense interest. She took a long breath, and let the tension bleed out of her. Now was not the time or the place to begin an argument about a case that was long since past.

"Later," she said in a far more subdued tone. "We'll talk about it later."

She turned to step away, and was startled to find Jack standing in her path. Prepared for a confrontation of some description, Alex looked up at him fiercely, only to have that fierceness dissipate when he smiled.

"C'mon. We'll introduce you to Janet."

* * *

In retrospect, Jack could honestly say that while he expected Bobby's reaction to their resident weevil, he was genuinely surprised by Alex.

It wasn't their first exposure to a weevil. Bobby and Alex had had the misfortune to stumble into the path of one whilst in New York when they had, against all good advice, followed Jack and his team into Central Park. Bobby had been injured and Ianto had nearly been killed. That incident alone had very nearly seen Jack disregard Bobby as a potential future employee. Had it not been for the events that followed with the Grysliaak, Jack knew full well that he would have quite cheerfully ret-conned Bobby and his NYPD colleagues, and left them wondering just what the hell had happened over that entire week.

That was in the past, though, and Jack had frequently found it to his detriment to dwell on the past. Now, Jack stood back a little and watched with interest as his two newest recruits came face to face again with the species that had more or less given them their baptism of fire into the world of aliens.

Bobby approached the glass first, peering through at Janet with a studied interest that was oh so similar to Owen when he'd seen his first weevil. It was the gaze of a scientist, Jack mused. Janet, for her part, seemed equally curious, and had sidled up to the glass for a closer inspection of the one currently observing her.

"She doesn't seem vicious," Bobby murmured, tilting his head to the side at a curious angle as he took in everything he could about the creature in front of him.

"She's gotten used to humans," Jack answered. "Make no mistake, though. Given the chance, she'd tear you to shreds. Owen found that out the hard way."

"Owen?" Alex queried.

"Another long and somewhat painful story," Ianto said quietly. His tone didn't quite mask the warning against pursuing the subject – a warning that was directed not just at Bobby and Alex, but also at Jack. The Captain nodded in wordless consent. Again, it was a past that was better off left alone.

Alex finally moved, venturing towards the glass partition as Bobby stepped away. Janet hissed softly, but made no greater noise than that, and for the longest while, Alex and the weevil simply stood there on opposite sides, staring intently at each other. Minutes ticked by, and Janet startled both Jack and Ianto when she uttered a soft whining sound and drew back from the glass.

"Alex?" Jack asked quietly.

"I'm fine."

The response was sharp and short, and sounded slightly strangled. Glancing at Jack and Ianto in mild concern, Bobby stepped in and laid a hand lightly on her shoulder, turning her carefully around. Her eyes were red, and her cheeks stained with tear streaks as evidence of her distress.

"Hey," Bobby murmured, taking her into his embrace and hugging her warmly. "What's wrong?"

"This is," Alex said shakily. "Keeping her locked up like this. It isn't right."

"We don't have a choice, Alex," Jack replied firmly, though not unkindly. "Once a weevil goes rogue and attacks humans, it doesn't stop. It can't. The only way is to either lock them up here in the Hub, or kill them, and I don't especially want to have to kill something that really has no control over its own actions."

"I know," she whispered. "It's just... Can't you hear her?"

Jack glanced at Ianto before stepping towards Alex.

"Hear what?"

"Her crying," Alex whispered breathlessly. "I can hear it... No, that's not right. I.. I can _feel_ it. Jack, what the hell is going on?"

He reached over and stroked her hair tenderly.

"You're having an empathic reaction to the weevils, and to their captivity. I've seen it before, but never this strong. You really are something special, Alex Eames."

"Can we go back upstairs, please?" Bobby asked, with a hint of desperation in his tone of voice. "Seriously, Jack, before this gets to be too much for her."

"Sure," Jack conceded, and motioned them towards the doorway. "We'll go back up, and start showing you all the different equipment. Then later, Tosh can show you the computer system properly, Alex, and Ianto can take you down into the archives, Bobby."

"Sounds good," Bobby agreed, deliberately steering Alex towards the stairs. Alex uttered a slightly strained laugh as they made their way back up the stairs.

"Oh yeah, I can see you in the archives, Bobby. Watch him, Ianto. He'll never want to come out again."

"Funny," Bobby retorted, though he silently felt relieved that Alex at least had the inclination to want to make a joke, however lame it might be.

They were nearly back up to the main level when a slightly shrill alarm resounded through the place.

"What's that?" Alex asked, frowning and rubbing at her ears in mild irritation.

"Rift alert," Ianto answered as he and Jack broken into a run. The two New Yorkers followed quickly, neither one wanting to be left behind and potentially miss out on the forthcoming action.

They emerged into the main body of the Hub to find Toshiko already at her computer, tapping away furiously on the keyboard as she tried to determine the cause of the rift alert.

"What have we got, Tosh?" Jack asked, bounding over to her and leaning over her shoulder to peer at the monitor.

"Rift spike in Bute town," she answered, a slight frown of concentration on her features. "Something's come through, Jack, but I can't tell whether it's living or an inanimate object."

"Where are Owen and Gwen?"

"They headed out half an hour ago to deal with a weevil that went on a rampage in Tesco's," Tosh told him. "Apparently security thought it was a teenager playing a prank, and sprayed it in the face with pepper spray."

Jack winced.

"Ooh. Does he still have all his bodily functions?"

A tiny smile crept onto Tosh's face.

"Managed to get out of the way just in time, apparently. They evacuated the store and locked it down. The official story is that it's a rabid monkey that's escaped from a circus."

Ianto snorted.

"People really will believe anything. The nearest circus is a hundred miles away."

"Don't knock human gullibility," Jack admonished him. "In this job, it can be our best friend." Turning abruptly, Jack looked at Bobby and Alex, a gleam in his eyes. "So, ready for your first outing as Torchwood agents?"

Bobby and Alex exchanged amused glances, but neither one made any attempt to conceal the eagerness in their own expressions. Jack saw it, and laughed out loud.

"Brilliant. Ianto? Coming?"

"Of course," Ianto responded dryly, as though it was merely stating the obvious. Jack rubbed his hands together gleefully, giving the very strong impression that he was little more than a big kid about to go on a big adventure. His enthusiasm was infectious, though, and Bobby and Alex found themselves grinning in response. Even Ianto managed to crack a small smile by that point.

"They took Owen's car, so the SUV is still here," Tosh added.

"Great," Jack enthused. "We don't have to walk. Let's go, people!"

_

* * *

_

_tbc..._


	4. First Outing

"So, what's the standard procedure for outings like this?" Alex queried. She was in the back seat with Ianto, who had graciously given up the front passenger seat to Bobby, in deference to his bigger physical stature.

"Well, it depends on a lot of variables," Jack answered as he guided the SUV through the Cardiff streets. The most important thing to remember, though, is that we need to be flexible. Try not to go into any situation with set expectations. The rift is unpredictable, and it'll knock you on your butt if you give it half a chance."

"What Jack is so eloquently trying to say," Ianto said placidly, "is that more often than not the rift tends to throw out alien toasters and hair dryers, but don't automatically make the assumption that what comes through will be harmless."

"Got it," Bobby said for the both of them.

"Our methods of retrieval aren't that different to those of the NYPD," Jack went on to explain. "Rule number one, though, is caution. Always be careful, regardless of whether you think something is harmless or not. Always."

"_Two hundred metres more, Jack_," Tosh's voice told them over their Bluetooth ear pieces. "_The signal is steady, but I don't think it's a living entity. No way of knowing yet whether it's sentient, though_."

"You're saying it could be inanimate and sentient?" Alex queried incredulously. Jack flashed her a brief grin in the mirror.

"Broaden your mind, Alex. Artificial Intelligence isn't just science fiction anymore, especially when we're dealing with the rift."

Alex rolled her eyes.

"Gosh, Bobby, just think of the fun we're going to have when we get home."

Jack laughed, unperturbed by her sarcasm.

"Hey, you gotta have fun."

"Your favourite motto, sir," Ianto said with the tiniest of smirks. Jack chuckled again and returned his attention to the road.

"_Jack, stop!_" Tosh almost shouted at them through the comms. "_You're practically right on top of it!_"

Pulling up hard, Jack was out of the SUV almost before he'd put the handbrake on. Ianto, Bobby and Alex were out just behind him.

"Your driving is almost as bad as Bobby's, Jack," Alex grumbled as she rubbed the back of her neck. "And... do you realise you're parked on the sidewalk?"

"Technically, it's only half on the footpath," Jack said dismissively. "Tosh? Exactly how close are we?"

"_I told you, Jack, you're right on top of it_."

"There's nothing here, Toshiko," Jack answered, looking around in steadily growing frustration. "Are you positive?"

"_A hundred percent, Jack. Directly beneath your feet_."

Jack looked down slowly, and felt his stomach drop. When he looked up again, he saw similar realisation dawning in the eyes of his three companions.

"You can't be serious..." Alex groaned, and Jack uttered a chuckle that was just a little bit strained.

"So, how water-proof are your shoes?"

* * *

"Day one, and we're on the equivalent of dumpster duty," Alex griped as they made their way down into the sewers. "You never mentioned anything about this in your plug, Captain."

"Oh, c'mon, Alex," Jack retorted. "There's nothing like getting good and dirty."

"I get the feeling your mind is on cleaning up afterwards," Bobby commented in wry amusement. Jack's grin was almost blinding for a brief few seconds, but he chose not to reply to the remark.

"On your guard, people. Keep an eye out for anything that doesn't look like it belongs. The sooner we find our target, the sooner we can get out of here, and go clean up."

Even in the darkness of the sewer tunnel, Bobby and Alex could see Ianto rolling his eyes in fond exasperation. It was clear that he was well used to the steady flow of innuendo, and they both knew already from what little experience they'd had that he was more than capable of giving as good as he got.

Silence fell as they began to search in earnest for the as yet unknown cause of the rift spike. Minutes ticked by as they made their way slowly along the tunnel, following Tosh's directions until she told them that, once more, they were virtually right on top of the item, whatever it was.

"I still don't see anything, Toshiko," Jack told her, and by this time he was starting to sound more than a little bit irritated. "And if you're about to tell me that it's in the water…"

"It's not," Bobby said abruptly, and though his voice sounded calm enough, his three companions easily picked up on the undercurrent of fear. Jack turned and shone his spotlight in the direction that Bobby was staring, and sucked in a sharp breath of shock. Not ten metres from them, and hovering almost in guard formation around an oddly shaped silvery blue container, were three weevils.

"I'm guessing this isn't good," Alex said in a low voice.

"You'd be right about that," Jack confirmed. He moved slowly, stepping around to place himself between his companions and the weevils, even as they hissed threateningly at them. Ianto moved up beside him, discreetly unholstering his own gun, while at the same time Jack took out his Webley.

"Both of you, stay behind us," Jack ordered them. "You're not armed, and I don't want you putting yourselves at risk."

"Jack…" Alex whispered, only to be silenced by Jack.

"Do as I say, and stay back! You're not ready to deal with one weevil, let alone three."

"They're attracted by the box," Ianto said, keeping his voice deliberately low and even, while at the same time he carefully released the safety on his gun.

"I guess leaving them to it isn't an option?" Bobby wondered.

"No," Ianto confirmed. "No way of knowing whether the item is dangerous or not. The fact that it's attracting the weevils is enough to suggest it probably is. We can't just leave it behind."

A snarl off to their right drew their attention, and two more weevils emerged out of the darkness.

"Oh, this is not good," Jack muttered. "Okay, Bobby and Alex, you two need to get out of here. Tosh, you there?"

"_I'm here, Jack_."

"Get a hold of Gwen and Owen, and tell them to get to our location as fast as they can. We've got a serious problem here. Five weevils, and only two guns."

"_I've sent them the details, they're already on their way. They should be there in five minutes_."

"We may not have five minutes," Jack said tensely. "Okay, I'm going to try grabbing that box…"

"Are you out of your mind?" Alex demanded. "They'll rip you to shreds!"

"We can discuss my state of mind later," Jack retorted sharply. "Just do as I say. I really do not want to lose either of you on your first day. I'm going to make a grab for that box. When I toss it to you, run like hell and get topside as fast as you can. Wait for me at the SUV. I'll be along as soon as possible."

There was no response, and Jack risked a quick glance around. The expression on Ianto's face was one of weary resignation, while both Bobby and Alex looked positively hostile at the implication of Jack's next impending death.

"This isn't the same as with the Grysliaak," Jack insisted. His gaze focused on Bobby. "I promise."

Bobby's expression altered fractionally, and he gave a slight nod, at the same time backing up a couple of steps and turning his body to enable himself the best possible get-away.

"Do what you need to do."

Not feeling altogether better about what was about to happen, Jack re-holstered his Webley, and braced himself. Before he had the opportunity to move, though, nearly blinding torchlight flared through the tunnel, followed by a rapid succession of gun shots. The weevils howled and fled, driven off by the unexpected assault.

"What the…?" Jack exclaimed, only to grin in relief as Gwen and Owen appeared, guns in hand. "Just in time, you two."

"Yeah, we know," Owen retorted. "Just in time to save your sorry arse from death by weevil. And for what? A ruddy metal box? Bloody hell, Jack…"

"We have no idea what's in it," Jack snapped, the grin melting from his face as rapidly as it had appeared. He strode over and used his manipulator to scan the box before bending over to pick it up. "Let's just get back to the Hub, and start the analysis. I want to know what it is that attracted the weevils to it."

They began to make their way back along the tunnel, and Ianto spoke to Gwen and Owen quizzically.

"Tosh said you were at least five minutes away. How did you get here so fast?"

"Because Gwen has been taking driving lessons from Jack," Owen said wryly. "She drove like a bloody maniac when we got the message from Tosh. Nearly took out two school kids and a homeless guy selling the Big Issue. You should be proud, Jack."

Jack grunted, but didn't respond to the bait. Ianto shook his head.

"God help us, and Cardiff."

"Excuse me!" Gwen objected. "We got here in time to save you lot. Let's not hear any complaints, thankyou! And what about Jack? Not one day back, and you nearly got yourself killed!"

"That must be a record," Alex piped up, and Owen uttered a short, sharp bark of laughter.

"Not quite. This time he only _nearly_ got himself killed. The last time he came back after being away, he managed to get himself killed after just three and a half hours. We found him splayed out across a metal bench, where he'd landed after getting shoved off the top of a building. He was bent nearly in half with a broken back. It was disgusting. We had to practically peel him off the bench."

"See the lack of sympathy I get?" Jack bemoaned.

The silence that met his statement spoke in volumes, and it was all the others could do not to burst into laughter, even as Jack descended into a sulky silence.

* * *

"Is it a compulsion?" Bobby asked once they were safely out of the sewer tunnel, and back at the SUV. Jack froze momentarily in transferring the cause of their current, filthy state into the back of the SUV.

"Sorry?"

"This… need to sacrifice yourself," Bobby said, seemingly oblivious to the way Jack's jaw tightened.

"I don't have a need to sacrifice myself," he said tersely, and turned away from him, only to find Ianto standing in front of him. There wasn't so much a look of disapproval on the younger man's face, as there was disappointment. He said nothing, though. Instead, he merely held out a containment box for Jack to drop the object into. Jack did so with a scowl, agitated by both the sudden scrutiny he was under and the lack of warmth from Ianto.

"Let's get back to the Hub," he said shortly, and climbed back into the SUV without waiting for any of them to concur. Bobby looked across and Ianto, apologetic.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Again, Ianto said nothing. He just clapped Bobby lightly on the shoulder and offered him a tight smile before climbing back into the SUV himself. Alex spoke in a low, grim tone as she passed by him.

"Foot in mouth, Bobby. You have chronic foot in mouth disease."

"I know," Bobby muttered as he reluctantly headed around to get into the front passenger seat.

* * *

"Ladies, the shower is all yours," Jack announced gallantly as he carried the containment box back into the Hub. "We'll take it after you. Get cleaned up and changed. I want everyone in the meeting room half an hour."

"I don't have a change of clothes," Alex said in sudden dismayed realisation. Gwen smiled reassuringly at her.

"Don't worry about it. We're about the same size, you can borrow a change of clothes from me. I always keep a few sets here, just in case."

Overhearing the women's discussion, Bobby looked around uncomfortably as he realised that he didn't have a change of clothes either. Seeing his discomfort, Ianto patted him on the back.

"We have some spare clothes stashed away. I'm sure I can find something to fit you. I'll go and have a look now."

Bobby nodded, though his attention was more on Jack's office than the young Welshman.

"Ianto, is he all right?"

Ianto glanced towards the closed door of Jack's office before shrugging slightly.

"He will be. He knows I don't like it when he put himself deliberately at risk, but at the same time, I know that he doesn't do it unnecessarily, either. He was right about the artefact. We couldn't leave it behind. If it turns out to contain a weapon, we need to be able to identify and secure it. If Owen and Gwen hadn't shown up today, Jack wouldn't have had a choice except to let the weevils attack him. They're very much singular focus creatures. We would have been safe to get out of there while they were focused on t… on him."

"So… if you know he was only doing what had to be done…"

"I accept that his dying often saves our lives, and the lives of others," Ianto said quietly. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it. And, he doesn't have a hero complex. What he does have a compulsion to keep the rest of us safe. He's lost a lot of people over the years, Bobby. I can't begrudge him the need to protect us whenever he can."

"Even if it pisses you off?" Bobby asked with a sad smile. Ianto smiled softly in return.

"Especially when it pisses me off. It hurts me to see him get hurt and die, but at least I have the comfort of knowing he'll come back. If he loses one of us, it's for keeps. No second chances. Now, excuse me. I'll go and find you a change of clothes."

Bobby watched him go, and then looked back to Jack's office. After a brief contemplation, he made up his mind and headed for the office door to talk to his new boss.

* * *

Jack supposed he had no business getting angry or upset. It was an ongoing issue not just between him and Ianto, but between him and the rest of the team, and Bobby and Alex were a part of that now, weren't they? If anything, he felt he probably should be amused at the way the argument kept playing out. In all honesty, he had really believed that once the entire team knew about his 'gift' of immortality, they would be less concerned about him being in dangerous situations, and that they would willingly let him take the biggest risks.

In truth, that was one of the reasons why he hadn't wanted to let any of them know. Yes, he'd told Gwen that he kept quiet about it in order to stop people freaking out around him, and that was true enough. But there was also a part of him that was desperate to avoid others using him as a human shield. That was what had happened when he was originally recruited to Torchwood, and he'd hated it.

Harkness couldn't die, just send him. Oh, let Harkness do it, it won't matter if he's gutted. Order Harkness to go. A little chemical explosion won't do him any lasting harm.

Emily Holroyd and Alive fucking Guppy... Those two women would have been the death of him, if he _had_ been able to die permanently. They'd never truly cared for anyone or anything besides each other and the Empire, and he'd never been so glad to see the back of them when he'd gone off to join up for the war in 1914.

So the bitter truth behind his reluctance to share the secret of his immortality with his own team was less a concern that it would freak them out, as it was a fear that they would turn around and abuse it. To say he was surprised that the opposite had happened was a very big understatement. And yes, he remembered with almost painful clarity his resurrection after taking a fifteen storey swan dive, courtesy of Captain John Hart.

_Captain, my ass_, Jack thought snippily. He remembered with a shudder the searing pain through his back as air rushed back into his lungs, and his eyes snapped open. He was not splayed over the bench, though, but laid out flat on the ground, and his head had been resting on something firm, yet soft. Someone's thighs, he'd realised as his mind started to creak back into gear. Specifically, Ianto's thighs. The young man's face had wavered into focus above his own, warring emotions creasing the handsome features. Worry, fear, irritation...

They'd all been relieved by his revival, but at the same time annoyed by what they saw as an unnecessary risk. After all, he had been the one who had warned them about Hart, and yet he himself had underestimated what his ex-lover was capable of doing.

It had been a very interesting discussion going back to the Hub to confront the rogue Time Agent, and Jack had gotten his first taste of what was to become a regular topic of conversation; conversation being a very, very loose description. More often, it had come down to full blown arguments over the necessity of Jack dying at every apparent opportunity.

And now, there was Bobby Goren and Alex Eames. Bobby had surprised him first whilst they had been in New York, with showing a dogged determination not to let him sacrifice himself to the Grysliaak. Jack had to admit that he appreciated that more than he had the words to say. Even after learning about his immortality, Bobby had been determined not only to protect himself and Ianto – and he had nearly died trying to save Ianto at one point – but also to protect Jack. Jack was still trying to work out exactly what he'd done, and when, to earn that sort of loyalty and friendship that early on from the big detective.

But then, on top of that, there was Alex. That, even more so than Bobby, was a tremendous surprise. She knew he couldn't die permanently. She'd seen him resurrect twice now – once in a hotel room in New York City, and once in the TARDIS. And yet, down in the sewers, she'd been genuinely horrified at the idea of letting the weevils attack him.

Jack sighed and gave up any pretence of work, choosing instead to bury his face in his hands.

Did they really all believe he was happy to give his life up so easily? That he considered his life to be so expendable? He wasn't sure what hurt the worst – the thought that they believed he considered himself expendable like that, even for the sake of his team; or that he just didn't care. Because in reality, neither option was true. He didn't consider himself expendable, and he did care – perhaps just a little too much.

"Excuse me, Jack?"

Slowly, Jack raised his head to find Bobby hovering in the doorway, looking torn between wanting to come in, and wanting to give the Captain his privacy. Biting back a desire to give the other man the brush in favour of having some time to himself, Jack instead waved him into the office.

"Come in, Bobby. Have a seat."

Bobby stepped inside, carefully closing the door behind him. He didn't sit, though, and Jack watched in amusement as the former detective began to pace the expanse of the office.

"I... I just wanted to apologise."

Jack couldn't help but feel surprised, and intrigued.

"Apologise for what?"

"For what I said, about you having a need to sacrifice yourself. It's none of my business. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, and especially not in front of anyone else."

Jack blinked, amazed at the way the tension literally bled out of him in response to Bobby's quiet and sincere apology. He sat back slowly, regarding Bobby with renewed interest.

"Bobby, quit pacing and sit down. I'm not going to bite. At least, not while we're both smelling like the sewer."

A wry smile touched Bobby's lips, and he settled himself somewhat awkwardly into a chair on the other side of the desk. Jack watched him with a bright, curious gaze.

"No, it wasn't the right time or place to say anything, and I appreciate the apology. But you're wrong when you say it's none of your business. You're a part of my team now, and therefore it is your business. If anything, I should be grateful that you actually give enough of a damn about me to call me on it."

An odd look flickered in Bobby's eyes, as though he'd just been confronted by a surprising realisation.

"I do care," he admitted, sounding a little astonished by his own admission. "Alex and I both do. You gave us a new chance at life, Jack. I know that sounds cliché, but you did. I... I guess I just want to know that you aren't taking your own life for granted. I know you say you can't die permanently, and that the Doctor said the same. But nothing is ever absolute, and even though you'd probably welcome a permanent death... because God knows, I can't imagine what it must be like to have lived for so long, and through so much... it doesn't change the fact that losing you would cripple us. And every time you die, we all feel that little hint of panic. We all wonder if you're going to come back this time. That's what I felt each time I watched the Grysliaak kill you, so I can only imagine what Ianto must go through every time."

At the mention of Ianto, Jack's expression darkened just a little. Bobby, however, held his hands up defensively.

"I know, you're going to say I'm out of line bringing Ianto into it, and you're right. But I didn't mention him for the reasons you're probably assuming. He doesn't believe you take your own life for granted, and he accepts that you do what you honestly believe you have to do. He doesn't like it, but he accepts it. I don't know about the others. I just know that Alex and I have a way to go before we're going to get to that point, so the next time we're in a situation where you feel you need to put yourself in the firing line like that, if we open our mouths and say the wrong thing, please remember that it's only because we care about you."

Despite the apparent sincerity of Bobby's words, Jack couldn't help feeling as though he was being manipulated in some way. Still, looking at the other man... a man who looked considerably older than him, and yet was far, far younger... Jack couldn't help but be touched. He'd seen the Doctor inspire that sort of loyalty in just about everyone whose life he changed for the better, and even in some whose lives he hadn't made better at all. It was a little humbling to think that he was now inspiring a similar loyalty in his own team.

"I don't take anything for granted, Bobby," he answered finally, in a sombre tone of voice. "Above and beyond anything else, I do not take my own life for granted. I admit that I did once upon a time, long ago... Decades before you were even born... But I'm beyond that pettiness now. I am not happy about continuously dying, except as a means to save others, and I'm not just talking about my immediate team. I'm talking about anyone. If someone is in danger, and my dying will save their life, then that's what I'll do. I am not trying to be a martyr. Believe me, I'd rather not die, because ninety-nine percent of the time, it bloody hurts! Sometimes, though, there just isn't any other way. Today, in the sewers, for example. If Owen and Gwen hadn't arrived when they did, I would have had two choices, and one of those choices could all too easily have resulted in you, Alex or Ianto getting killed. Or maybe even all three of you. There is a very good reason why we don't go on solo hunts for weevils. Even I try to avoid that, if I can. I have a tendency to get very badly clawed if I try to hunt for weevils on my own, and even Ianto only has so much patience when it comes to stitching up both me and my shirts."

Bobby smiled and chuckled, acutely aware of how much that probably irritated the meticulous young Welshman. Jack smiled as well, almost wistfully.

"Torchwood has rules to abide by, Bobby. Some are similar to the rules you operated under as a cop in the NYPD. Some you'll find are very different, and you'll learn them as you go. As I said yesterday to you and Alex, you'll make mistakes. That's okay. Just make sure you learn from those mistakes. Now, I have rules, too. One of them is that I ask you to accept my judgement. If you want to call me on something, fine. I'll welcome it, but not when we're in the middle of a potentially life threatening situation. Sometimes, taking just two minutes to argue over options is all it'll take to get everyone killed. If I say I have to put myself in the firing line to keep the rest of you from getting killed, I need you to accept that I'm not just saying that for the hell of it. It might sound like it, but I really don't mean it like that."

"I understand," Bobby murmured. "And again, I'm sorry."

Jack raised an eyebrow at him, a hard glint appearing in his eyes.

"I hope that's the last time you're going to apologise for that, Detective Goren."

Bobby opened his mouth to speak, but the words seemed to catch in his throat. For a split second, Bobby Goren managed to do a pretty damned good impersonation of a fish, with his mouth opening and closing a few times. Then, finally, he recovered and grinned wryly.

"Yes. That was the last time."

A wide, relieved grin broke out across Jack's face.

"Good. You can learn on the run. That's very good, Bobby. And for the record, you and Alex did fine today."

If anything, Bobby looked incredulous at that.

"Fine? We didn't do anything, Jack. We just followed you and Ianto into the sewers."

"Exactly," Jack confirmed. "You followed, and you didn't argue or complain. Well, no more than Ianto and I complained, at least. That counts for more than you realise."

"It wasn't all that bad," Bobby admitted. "No worse than the dumpster diving we had to do back home, at any rate."

Jack chuckled, and got to his feet, indicating for Bobby to stand up as well.

"Well, I'd like to say that going into the sewers is only an occasional thing for us, but..."

"Murphy's Law," Bobby concluded. "The worst possible things end up in the worst possible places."

"Exactly," Jack agreed. "But we got it this time, whatever it is, so let's go get cleaned up... because sewer chic really does not go well with my pheromones, and the girls ought to be done by now... and then we can work out exactly what it is that the weevils were so hell-bent on guarding."

Bobby nodded in wordless agreement, and followed Jack out of his office and into the lower levels of the Hub.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	5. Small Mysteries

A/N: **_This chapter is missing a scene that is very explicitly NC-17. Should you care to read the chapter in its entirety, with said scene included (ie, Jack, Ianto and shower nakedness), then you will need to trot over to "A Teaspoon and an Open Mind", and read it there._**

* * *

Half an hour later saw them all seated in the Hub's boardroom, with the odd-shaped box sitting in the middle of the table, like a strange, slightly misshapen centrepiece. Two chairs had been added to accommodate the newest members of the team, giving a somewhat brimming feel to the table.

"Okay, Tosh," Jack stated, giving her the floor.

"It's no weapon," she stated in reply, sounding completely certain of her conclusion. "I'll need more time, but as near as I can tell, it's just a box."

"A box," Owen said flatly, looking from the item to Jack. "You were going to let five weevils chow down on you over a bloody box."

"We had no way of knowing that it was just a box, Owen," Ianto spoke up tersely. "For all we knew, it might have contained a dangerous weapon."

"Do we know what's in it yet?" Alex asked, sensing an oncoming argument, and being eager to avoid it.

"Well, no, not yet," Tosh answered, looking just slightly uncomfortable at having to admit that. "It appears to be hermetically sealed, perhaps with a time lock."

"As in, it won't open until a certain time?" Bobby queried. He felt slightly foolish, but had long since decided that it was better off to ask slightly idiotic questions, rather than end up in trouble later on because he'd been too proud to speak up. Jack, for his part, looked pleased at Bobby's inquiry, and nodded.

"That's right. A time lock would mean that the box will only open when a certain time arrives. It may be a calendar point in time, or a time that's triggered by a particular event. Either way, that's basically what a time lock is."

"And that's what that thing is sealed with?" Gwen asked.

"Nope," Jack answered bluntly, surprising all of them. "It isn't a time lock on that box. There's a different kind of seal on it."

He reached across the table and picked the box up. It wasn't particularly big, and it sat easily in the palms of his hands. As he brought it closer to himself, an odd look flashed across his features and he visibly winced, the box tumbling out of his hands. In an instant, Ianto was there at his side, his face creased with worry.

"Jack? What's wrong?"

Jack shook his head, looking confused and momentarily lost.

"Nothing... I'm fine. I just..."

"Jack Harkness, lost for words," Owen snorted. He leaned to the side and nudged Alex lightly. "Enjoy the moment. It doesn't happen very often."

"Shut it, Owen," Gwen snapped at him angrily. Owen glowered back at her, but didn't argue further.

"What is it?" Bobby asked quietly and tensely. Jack shuddered just a little before running his fingers through his hair.

"It's not a time lock," he said again, this time with even more certainty. "It's a psychic lock."

"A what?" Owen burst out. Jack reached out tentatively towards the box again, but stopped short of actually touching it.

"A psychic lock, Owen. What it means is that only the one who sealed it will be able to open it." He shook his head. "It's not dangerous. It's most likely just got some kid's keepsakes in it."

"So, what you're saying is that it's basically a treasure box?" Alex asked in surprise, and Jack smiled and nodded.

"That's about right, Alex."

She huffed lightly in bemusement.

"Psychic aliens. I'm going to hear something new every day on this job, aren't I?"

A smattering of laughter erupted around the table at her incredulous tone, and Ianto patted her hand in sympathy.

"Don't worry. Even those of us who have been with Torchwood the longest still get thrown by what we encounter."

"Don't stress, Alex," Jack told her with a grin. "Just think of it as a really big adventure. Now, Tosh, I want you to spend the afternoon going over the computer and rift alert systems with Alex. Owen, you can take Bobby with you for an hour or so and go over standard alien autopsy procedures. Later, he can go down to the archives with Ianto, and see how we deal with things at that end."

"You mean, how I deal with things," Ianto said blandly as the others began to move towards the door. Jack only smiled, eliciting an exasperated roll of the eyes from Ianto. Once the room had been vacated, the young man walked around, clearing the table of empty coffee mugs, and took them through to the kitchen to wash. He headed back to the board room with the intention of turning off the lights, but was surprised to find Jack still sitting inside in his chair, staring at the box with a gradually deepening frown.

He paused in the doorway, trying to judge whether or not it was a wise decision to interrupt. The choice was taken out of his hands when Jack spoke in a low voice, without looking up from the artefact.

"Come in, and shut the door, Ianto."

Ianto did so, feeling intrigued, and more than a little confused. At Jack's quiet urging, he seated himself in the chair just around the corner of the table from Jack, watching him curiously.

"Jack? There is something wrong, isn't there?"

"Generally speaking? No. Tosh was right, this thing isn't a danger to anyone. Not physically, at any rate. No, I need your help, Ianto. I don't especially like asking you this, but could you see what you can get from that thing?"

Ianto frowned, and sat back a little in his seat.

"Jack..."

"I know, I know. I shouldn't even consider asking you, and I'm sorry. But there's something about this box that rings a bell. It's familiar, but I'll be damned if I can remember."

"What do you expect me to be able to tell you, Jack? Because odds are, I'll just get a flurry of emotions, and not be able to tell you anything solid."

"Can you just try?" Jack pleaded with him. "Please, for me, Ianto."  
Ianto sighed. He hated it when Jack begged him for anything outside their bedroom. Not least of which because it was utterly pathetic, but also because he was at a total loss to resist once Jack got that pouty, kicked puppy look on his face.

Sparing Jack a rueful look, he took the box and shut his eyes, allowing his mind to focus entirely on the item in his hands.

Sitting back, and fighting a desire to make physical contact with his young lover, Jack watched as the tiniest, adorable frown flickered across Ianto's face, followed by the softest of smiles. The smile quickly melted away, though, and Jack felt his heart clench at the expression of grief that took its place, accompanied by a single tear that left a silvery track down his face.

"Ianto?" Jack asked softly, anxious not to cause his lover any more stress than he already was. "Can you see who it belongs to?"

"A child," Ianto murmured. He opened his eyes, and for brief moment Jack thought they'd changed colour. But no, they were the same colour as always — beautiful dark brown. He set the box back down with care, and leaned back in his seat.

"So it is a kid's box," Jack mused.

"That's the impression I got. Couldn't tell you her name. Just that it's a girl. The emotions were strong, though. She was so sad, Jack, like she'd lost everything in the world that was important to her. There wasn't anything solid, though. Nothing clear that I could make out."

"Thankyou, anyway," Jack murmured, not quite able to conceal his disappointment. Ianto regarded him in puzzlement.

"It's just a little girl's treasure box, Jack. Why are you experiencing such a strong reaction to it?"

"I don't know," Jack admitted. "I don't know that I'm technically worried by it, but I am confused. You know me, Ianto. You know my psychic abilities don't extend beyond a little bit of telepathy, but when I picked that box up, I had the most powerful urge to cry, and I don't know why."

"But you're not empathic," Ianto pointed out, and Jack nodded his agreement.

"I know. That's why I don't understand it. It's why I hoped you might have been able to help."

"Sorry," Ianto murmured, feeling oddly as though he'd disappointed the Captain. A hand closed over his own, and he looked up to find Jack gazing intently at him.

"It's fine, Ianto, really. It was just a slim chance. Thankyou for trying."

The Captain's gratitude was sincere, and served to diminish the chill that had settled in Ianto's gut — a feeling that he always got whenever he put his mild psychic talents to use. It was erased entirely when Jack leaned across and brushed a soft kiss across his lips.

"It can go down to Archives for cataloguing and filing. No reason to spend more time on it than necessary."

Ianto nodded.

"I can use it to teach Bobby the filing system."

Jack smiled wryly.

"I half thought you were going to dump my coffee over my head when I suggested you show Bobby the Archives."

A small smile touched Ianto's lips.

"Reflex action. It's actually a good idea, and Bobby is meticulous enough that I think he'll be quite safe to let loose in the Archives, and I won't have to worry about having to clear up any chaos after the fact."

Jack couldn't resist a hearty laugh. He knew, perhaps better than anyone, just how protective Ianto was of his precious archives, and he hoped Bobby would understand just how much of an honour it was that Ianto was prepared to trust him with them.

"So..." he said, sidling up close to Ianto, until their bodies were pressed flush against each other. "We have at least an hour. Any suggestions on how to fill the time?"

Ianto leaned in close to Jack and sniffed carefully.

"I'm not entirely certain that you've managed to completely cleanse yourself of the odours of the sewer."

Jack's grin became positively salacious.

"Are you volunteering to wash me?"

"Well, you clearly didn't do a thorough job the first time, so I think that perhaps I'd better. Don't you think so?"

"Oh, I do," Jack purred. "I really do."

"I'll take care of the CCTV for the showers," Ianto murmured, turning his head and swiping his tongue lightly over the shell of Jack's ear, delighting in the erotic shiver that swept through his lover. "You go and make sure the water's nice and hot. I'll follow you in three minutes."

Jack needed no further encouragement. He stole a quick kiss and swatted Ianto on the arse before darting out of his office. Barely hiding a smirk, Ianto seated himself at Jack's desk to shut down the CCTV cameras that monitored the bathroom before heading out to join Jack.

* * *

It was impossible to miss the way Jack practically bounded past them, disappearing down the corridor that led to the showers, and the mile-wide grin on his face was equally impossible to misinterpret. The clincher was Ianto emerging from Jack's office a few minutes later, and strolling casually but swiftly across the floor of the Hub and disappearing down the same corridor.  
Alex watched first Jack and then Ianto go with suspicion. When she looked back to Tosh, the young woman had only a tiny smile on her lips to suggest she had any idea what was going on.

"Ianto just followed Jack, didn't he?" she asked, not entirely certain that she really wanted an answer to that question. Toshiko's smile widened just fractionally.

"Yes, he did."

Alex chewed her lower lip, trying to decide whether she wanted to take it any further. After all, this wasn't the NYPD, there were no rules (so far as she knew) about fraternization, and wasn't the boss at liberty to do as he wanted? Assuming the other half of the equation (in this case, Ianto) was willing, then was it really any of her business?

"Go ahead and ask," Gwen spoke up from where she sat at her own desk, a knowing grin on her face. "You know you want to, Alex."

Alex couldn't deny that. She wasn't even sure that she really wanted to try. Instead, she simply gave in to need and blurted out the first thought on her mind.

"They're going to have sex, aren't they?"

Gwen snorted with laughter, while Tosh minimised the computer window they had been working from, and began to type furiously.

"Oh, yes," Gwen confirmed. She got up and pulled her chair over to Tosh's monitor. "Judging from the direction they were headed, we're talking hot and steamy shower sex here. Tosh...?"

"Just about got it," Tosh replied. "Ianto tried to disable the CCTV for the showers, but he really ought to know better. Here we go..."

The computer monitor stuttered to life, and the three women found themselves watching Jack and Ianto in various stages of undress, currently ravishing each other's mouths. Alex stared at the image in front of her, feeling her face heating up both from embarrassment and unexpected arousal. It wasn't that she was embarrassed by the footage itself, but there was a stark difference between watching risqué surveillance footage, and watching your new boss screwing a fellow employee.

Beside her, Gwen whistled softly, drawing her attention briefly away from the monitor.

"No matter how many times I see them at it, it never ceases to amaze me how toned Ianto is. I mean, we all agree how hot he looks in those suits, but who'd think he'd look so much better out of one?"

"Well, Jack, for starters," Tosh retorted, and both women laughed.

"You do this a lot, don't you?" Alex queried, starting to feel more than a little uncomfortable about spying on Jack, especially when he was... dropping his pants...

Her mouth went dry, and she shot her hand out and thumped a single key on the keyboard, cancelling the image.

"I'm sorry," she apologised hoarsely when both Toshiko and Gwen looked at her questioningly. "I just don't think... I mean, I really don't feel comfortable watching that."

Gwen smiled, then, and squeezed her shoulder lightly.

"It's all right. Just wait until you walk in on them and get an eyeful that way. Nothing will prepare you for that."

Alex's eyebrows shot up and she shook her head in bemusement. She couldn't wait.

* * *

"God, what a day," Alex groaned as she flopped into one of the waiting armchairs inside the apartment that had been rented out for Bobby and herself. Bobby smiled wryly as he dropped a shoulder bag onto the table and sat down in the chair opposite her.

"I know. It was a little more than I expected."

"How was the autopsy lesson?" Alex asked with a grin, and Bobby chuckled softly in response.

"Interesting, actually. I think Owen was disappointed that I didn't have to run off and throw up, and he definitely wasn't expecting me to want to be quite so hands-on."

Alex couldn't help it. She snorted with laughter.

"First Rogers, and now Owen. You really know how to push their buttons, Bobby."

Bobby smiled and shrugged.

"No point being shy about it. When we go home, anything along those lines will probably fall to me to deal with, at least to start with. Who knows how long it'll take us to get a medic?"

"I suppose," Alex murmured. She eyed him with a faint smile. "It just makes me smile to picture you up to your elbows in alien guts. Rogers would think it was poetic justice."

Bobby rolled his eyes.

"Maybe, although, I'd like to know exactly where Jack and Ianto disappeared to while I was working with Owen. I was with him for nearly two hours, and they didn't surface until nearly half an hour after that."

Alex, who had been in the middle of untying her shoe laces, froze.

"No," she said finally, an odd note to her voice. "No, Bobby, you don't want to know."

He looked at her, puzzled.

"Alex? What aren't you telling me?"

"Let's just say that Jack and Ianto were otherwise engaged," Alex said, gulping a little as she recalled the brief glimpse she'd gotten of their coupling. They'd only really been kissing at that stage — albeit half naked — but that alone had been enough to throw her completely off-kilter.

She risked a glance up at her partner, and was mortified to see a smile spreading across his face.

"Jack and Ianto slip off somewhere together for a couple of hours… I'm guessing somewhere without CCTV coverage…"

Alex coughed conspicuously.

"Actually, the CCTV was working a little too well," she admitted, and Bobby's eyebrows shot up.

"You were spying on them?"

"No! Well, technically not spying, and it wasn't me. It was Toshiko and Gwen… I just happened to…"

She trailed off, suddenly aware of the way that Bobby was grinning at her and struggling not to laugh.

"If you tell me you already knew, Bobby..."

Bobby chuckled.

"Not specifically, but Owen left me with the body to go and ask Ianto to make him a fresh cup of coffee. He came back without the coffee, looking a little green around the gills and muttering something about 'them' being 'at it again'. He wouldn't tell me exactly what was going on, but I figured it probably revolved around Jack and Ianto doing something inappropriate during work hours."

Alex smiled wryly.

"I don't think Jack knows the meaning of 'inappropriate' where Ianto's concerned. God, this is all going to take some getting used to."

"Look on the bright side, Alex. Once we get back to New York, we won't have to worry anymore about stumbling in on our boss in a compromising position."

"Like he'd care," Alex said with a short laugh. "Knowing him, he'd probably ask us to join in."

"He doesn't have any boundaries when it comes to sex," Bobby mused. "Male, female, alien... Ianto called him omni-sexual."

"I don't think that's entirely true, that he doesn't have boundaries," Alex corrected, her smile fading. "I don't think he'd ever do anything without mutual consent."

Bobby nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure of it. He may take some getting used to, but I really think we landed on our feet with this. It may be dangerous, but we have a new boss who really does give a damn about what happens to us."

"Ross gave a damn," Alex argued. "He's just too much like you, and didn't know how to let it show. I tell you, Bobby, I won't enjoy the first time we have to walk in and take a crime scene away from them... or any squad in the NYPD."

"Me, either," Bobby murmured. "Alex, I know you said you were okay with all of this, but are you really? Because Jack wasn't kidding when he said that the NYPD will probably hate us. I mean, it doesn't make any difference to me, because most of them already did anyway. But you... They respect you. I'd hate to see you lose that."

"I made my choice, and I'm standing by it," Alex told him firmly. "And I don't care what anyone else thinks. I know I chose right, Bobby. Don't ever doubt that."

Bobby sighed softly, and rose to his feet, making his way over to the picture window.

"It's so peaceful here. Hard to believe that so much crap could descend onto one city."

"Are you saying you'll be glad to get home to New York?" Alex asked teasingly. Bobby shrugged.

"I'll be glad to be back on familiar territory, But this... It's more than I ever imagined possible, Alex. I... I can't begin to explain just how good I feel right now."

"Like you're finally where you're meant to be?" Alex asked, and Bobby nodded in answer.

"Yes. Just like that."

Smiling knowingly, Alex got up and headed for one of the two bedrooms.

"I feel the same too, Bobby. Now, get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be a pretty busy day."

Bobby watched her with an affectionate smile before conceding with a nod and heading off to bed to try and get a full night's sleep.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	6. Unexpected

_3.47am  
Pendefig Mall_

Talfryn Price sat in the security monitor room of Pendefig Mall, trying his best not to fall asleep. The last thing he needed was to be caught out sleeping on the job, regardless of how lousy he thought the job actually was. Technically he wasn't actually a security guard. Hell, he wasn't even on the Mall's payroll. The truth was he had a mate who was on the payroll as a security guard there, and who had approached him a week ago with an offer that he couldn't refuse. Specifically, that he couldn't afford to refuse.

His mate, Aeron, had a hot date that night, only to find himself switched to the night duty shift at the mall. He'd asked Talf to fill in for him while he wined, dined and hopefully fucked his date. Dead easy, Aeron had assured him. Just sit on his arse in the security room, and keep an eye on the monitors to make sure that no one tried to break in. Oh, and don't fall asleep.

He groaned and stood up to pace the length of the tiny room in an effort to wake himself up. His mate was already past due to come and take over for him. He should have been there a good hour and a half ago. Talf just hoped he did actually show. Otherwise, they would both be up shit creek when the morning shift guards turned up.

He stretched his arms out wide, relishing the sensation, before turning to deposit himself back in the chair.

The lights flickered. Talf froze, looking around nervously. He was almost, completely, a hundred percent sure that wasn't supposed to happen. A long minute passed, and he was just working towards convincing himself that it was nothing to worry about, when it happened again. This time, in addition to the lights, the security monitors stuttered and went to snow. The interference lasted for just half a minute before everything went dead.

Talf stood frozen, engulfed in darkness, trying desperately to work out what had just happened and keep from panicking. He wasn't afraid of the dark, not by a long way, but that didn't prevent his heart pounding hard enough in his chest to nearly crack a rib. With a shaking hand, he reached out for the chair, deciding that the safest thing to do would be to sit down and wait it out until Aeron arrived. He'd just seated himself when there was a loud buzz and the lights suddenly flickered back on.

Talf let out an undignified shriek as the flare of light momentarily blinded him, and when he could see again he was startled to find that the surveillance monitors had come back on as well. His heart in his throat, Talf leaned forward to examine the monitors. Everything looked as it should be, and there didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary…

_What the fuck…?_

As Talf watched, the tiny figure of a little girl came into view on one of the monitors. She was alone, or at least appeared to be, and was dragging something along the floor that he suspected was some sort of teddy bear. He sat there and watched, open-mouthed, as she walked down the long, deserted causeway of the mall's upper floor, looking around as she went.

_Fuck_, he thought grimly. _Some arsehole parent has gone and left the kid here, and now I've gotta sort it out._

Briefly, very briefly, he was tempted to just leave her to wander. Then, when Aeron arrived, he could point her out to him, and then piss off before he got roped into helping to find her. Talf may have been a bastard, but he wasn't cruel. If it was his kid, he figured he'd probably kill anyone callous enough to ignore her in a similar situation. Then again, he liked to think he wouldn't be irresponsible enough to leave a kid behind like that in the first place.

Sighing in frustration, Talf grabbed the torch that Aeron had left with him, and went to find the kid.

* * *

The mall was a decidedly creepy place at night time. By the time Talf had made it from the security room to the second floor, where he'd last sighted the child on the security monitors, he was seriously regretting his decision to go looking for her. He didn't like this, not at all, and he was going to bloody kill Aeron when the bastard finally showed up.

He paused in his stride, shining the torchlight around with a deep frown. How in the hell was he meant to find some pint sized kid in a place like this? Even without the added complication of thousands of people wandering around, it was still a next to impossible task.

He was almost prepared to turn around and go straight back to the security room when movement caught his eye. Wheeling around, he found himself staring at the open door of the mall's toy shop. The lights were on, and from within he could hear the very distinct sound of a child's laughter.

Feeling more annoyed now than frightened, Talf strode into the shop to find the cause of his interrupted night. It didn't take him long. Following the sound of laughter, he quickly found the source of his frustration sitting on the floor in the midst of the sea of stuffed animals. She had a rather grotty looking teddy bear tucked up tightly in one arm, and was cuddling a penguin that clearly belonged to the shop in her other arm.

Talf hesitated in speaking, struck by the child's appearance. He wouldn't have called her particularly beautiful, but she was nonetheless striking in appearance. Her hair was dark brown, shoulder length and wavy where it wasn't matted with dirt. It was her eyes that really got his attention, though. Her eyes were dark green, the likes of which he'd never seen before.

It honestly frightened the hell out of him.

Shaking himself out of his momentary reverie, Talf moved forward. Lost or not, dumped or not, enough was enough.

"Hey, kid!"

The child's head snapped up, her eyes wide with fright as she saw Talf for the first time. He advanced on her, too exhausted and too aggravated to even imagine that he might have been in danger.

"C'mon, little girl. Time to go. You gotta come with me."

She uttered a squeak of fear and distress as he reached down and grabbed her wrist, attempting to drag her to her feet. The penguin to which she had been clinging tumbled out of her grasp as he pulled her up, and she shrieked in protest. Grunting, Talf pulled harder as she dug her feet in and refused to go.

"C'mon, you little brat. You're coming with me, whether you like it or not. I'll get you a nice cup of crappy hot chocolate from the big machine if you behave yourself, and when Uncle Aeron comes, he can call the police and they'll find your mummy for you."

"Nai!" the girl screamed, tears filling her eyes. "Nai! Enni ma Dada!"

She lunged forward suddenly, and sank her teeth into Talf's wrist. Talf bellowed in pain and released his hold on the child. In a purely reflexive move, he swung around and struck her across the face, sending her tumbling over backwards.

"Oh fuck," Talf groaned, realising just seconds too late what he'd done. "Oh shit… Kid, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. You just… Fuck, why wouldn't you just come with me?"

Perhaps too late, he realised that the girl wasn't crying, or making any sort of a scene like he'd expected she would. Instead, she just sat there, staring at him with those creepy green eyes. He fell silent, his heart pounding harder than ever as she spoke one single word in a crystal clear voice.

"Bad."

It was the last thing Talfryn Price heard before his heart exploded in his chest, and he collapsed to the floor, dead.

Satisfied that she was once again safe, the child got to her feet, picked up both her teddy and the penguin, and stepped almost daintily past the body. Without so much as a glance back, she went on her way with the toys tucked securely in her arms.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	7. Eleya

Ianto awoke to the sound of a phone alarm going off — a sound that, even in his sleep-fogged stated of mind, he recognised as being a rift alert. Rolling over with a groan, he opened his eyes blearily to find Jack was already half dressed.

"What time is it?"

"Not quite 4am," Jack answered quietly. "The rift alarm went off."

"I heard," Ianto muttered, not quite able to hide the sour tone of his voice. He wasn't quite awake enough yet to achieve that. "Have you called anyone else, or are we dealing with this ourselves?"

"I called Tosh," Jack answered. "She's meeting us at the Hub. The alert wasn't specific, and we don't have any coordinates to go by. I'm hoping Tosh can narrow it down at the Hub."

"Well, with any luck, it'll be a simple locate and secure," Ianto sighed. "Bloody rift. First night back, and it starts already."

Jack laughed and leant down to kiss Ianto softly.

"Have a shower and get dressed. I told Tosh we'd be at the Hub in half an hour."

* * *

Neither Jack nor Ianto were surprised to find Tosh already at the Hub when they arrived. She favoured them with a brief smile as she worked on her computer to isolate the cause of the alert.

"Any idea what we're dealing with yet?" Jack asked, peering at the monitor over her shoulder.

"Not yet," she admitted. "It's strange, not like most signals we get, and it was very quick. There one second, just long enough to trigger the rift alert, and then it was gone again. I can't tell whether it was a sentient being or whether it was something inanimate."

Jack sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes.

"With our luck, it'll probably be another treasure box."

She favoured him with a sharp look.

"Are you saying you'd prefer it to be something life-threatening?"

Jack had the good grace to look suitably chastened.

"Fair point. Can you pinpoint the location?"

"It'll take a while. What I can tell you, though, is that it was a controlled rift spike, not like the ones that usually occur."

"How do you mean, controlled?" Ianto asked as he came over with three mugs of freshly brewed coffee. Jack looked grim.

"Controlled, as in man-made. As in, someone deliberately did something that caused it."

"That doesn't sound good," Ianto said, and Jack shook his head.

"It's not. I'm calling the rest of the team in. We need to be ready for some large scale trouble. Anything could have come through."

Ianto exchanged grim looks with Tosh as Jack headed for his office to make the necessary calls, and Tosh said the words that Ianto hadn't been willing to.

"Anything… or anyone."

Ianto thought briefly of John Hart, and had to physically suppress a shudder. He hoped not. He really, really hoped not.

* * *

Jack was not in the least bit surprised that Bobby and Alex arrived at the Hub ahead of Gwen and Owen. For starters, their rented apartment was almost literally on the other side of the Plass. Secondly, it stood to reason that they'd be considerably more enthusiastic at this stage, and less likely to baulk at an early morning wake up call. Although, he mused as Bobby strode into the Hub, followed by a dour-faced Alex, he suspected that maybe one was slightly more enthusiastic than the other.

"Coffee?" Ianto asked as Alex trudged over, and didn't bother to wait for an answer before shoving a mug into her hands. Alex took a long sip, and groaned in pleasure.

"Bobby, we're taking him back to New York with us."

Ianto chuckled as he handed a mug to Bobby.

"As much as I'd love to oblige, Alex, I think Jack might object."

"You got that right!" Jack retorted. "My boyfriend is staying right here, thankyou."

Ianto flushed red with pleasure at the loud and proud announcement, and quickly hurried off to finish Gwen and Owen's coffees in preparation for their arrival.

"I think you embarrassed him," Alex said with a smirk. Jack chuckled.

"Just as well he loves me, then."

The proximity alarm sounded, and the cog door rolled back to allow Gwen and Owen into the Hub. Like Alex, neither one appeared particularly alert, and Owen especially was grumbling audibly about the early call.

"This had better be important, Jack," Owen growled, gratefully accepting his coffee from Ianto. He took a mouthful, and groaned loudly. "God, I missed this while you were away."

"You saying you only missed Ianto, and not me?" Jack asked, pretending to be wounded. Owen glared at him.

"Yes, Harkness. That is exactly what I'm saying. Deal with it, you bloody sook."

"I wouldn't be too offended, Jack," Ianto reassured him. "He didn't really miss me. Just my coffee. I think we can consider ourselves equally slighted."

Jack nodded.

"I can live with that. Of course, you could always teach Owen to make the coffee...."

"He goes near the coffee machine over my dead body," Ianto stated, no longer looking even remotely amused. Jack seemed to realise his faux pas, and held his hands up defensively.

"Calm down, sweetheart. Consider the suggestion withdrawn."

Satisfied, Ianto took up his own coffee and headed towards Jack's office. Jack watched him go, shaking his head in amazement.

"He really has me by the balls..."

"Literally and figuratively," Owen added quickly, and a ripple of laughter went around the team. Jack rolled his eyes in a gesture spookily reminiscent of his young lover.

"All right, joke time's over. Tosh? How close are you to pinpointing the disturbance?"

"I can tell you generally, but not specifically. Pendefig Mall."

"Oh hell, not there again," Gwen moaned.

"Hot spot?" Bobby wondered. Jack answered with a rough shake of his head.

"No, not really. Gwen just had a nasty experience there not that long ago. If that's where it is, though, then that's where we need to go. We'll need two cars, though. We're not all going to fit into the SUV... unless, of course, someone wants to sit on my lap?"

He looked around suggestively, and was met with rueful stares.

"Give us a break, Jack," Owen said with a sigh. "For starters, Ianto is the only one who might be willing to do that, and secondly, since you nearly always insist on driving, I doubt you'll be able to convince him to do it this time. Now will you quit it with the bloody innuendos? It is way too early in the morning for it."

Jack was still pouting when Ianto emerged from his office.

"What?" Ianto asked when he suddenly found himself the centre of everyone's attention. Alex shook her head.

"You don't want to know. Trust me."

Ianto lifted a single eyebrow, but decided against arguing.

"All right, gear up," Jack ordered finally. "Next stop, Pendefig Mall."

"Pendefig Mall?" Ianto echoed in surprise. "Well, I suppose that answers the question about whether what we're looking for is dangerous. A triple nine call went out from Pendefig Mall about half an hour ago. A man was found dead in the mall by the change-over guard shift. Apparently his heart exploded."

Jack let his breath out in long hiss, all signs of the earlier banter gone in a flash.

"Owen, you, Gwen and Tosh take your car. Bobby, Alex and Ianto in the SUV with me. Let's move, people, before the locals do something really stupid."

* * *

Even with Jack's suicidal brand of driving, it took them a good forty minutes to get to Pendefig Mall. When they finally arrived, it was to sirens, flashing lights, a slew of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances, and a whole lot of very frightened and borderline panicked emergency workers.

"Great," Jack grumbled as he guided the SUV to a halt near the outer rim of the arc of emergency vehicles. "Just what we need. A bunch of flighty cops who don't know what the hell they're dealing with." He paused, and glanced awkwardly back at Bobby and Alex, as though he'd only just realised what it was that he'd said. The two former detectives were both watching him with bemused looks.

"Present company excluded," he offered by way of an apology, and Bobby chuckled. As far as he was concerned, Jack was entitled to his opinion. He himself had caused a near disaster back home in New York when he and Alex had interfered during a weevil hunt, all because he hadn't understood what was going on. God only knew what sort of chaos so many police officers might cause here and now.

Jack was already moving towards the Mall, shouting his credentials and marching forcibly through the crowd.

"C'mon," Ianto said ruefully, quickly collecting his gear. "He won't wait for us."

By the time they caught up with him, he was in the middle of a confrontation with a police officer who was all too familiar to Ianto.

"Ianto, you remember Detective Swanson," Jack said dryly. "Kathy was just explaining how she's been trying to keep order until we got here."

"You arrogant bastard, Harkness," Kathy Swanson snapped. "This is not your jurisdiction. Why don't you take your people and clear off!"

"As you can tell," Jack said to Bobby and Alex over his shoulder, "we have a healthy relationship with the local police and emergency services."

"Oh yeah," Alex agreed. "I can see we have a lot to look forward to when we go home."

Jack smirked, and turned back to Kathy.

"I want you to pull your people out of there, Kathy. We're going in to deal with it."

She looked like she was about to argue when another familiar face appeared.

"Andy!" Gwen exclaimed as she, Owen and Tosh joined the rest of the team. Police Constable Andy Davidson didn't look the least bit surprised to see Gwen and her colleagues there as he came to a halt beside Kathy. If anything, he looked relieved.

"I was wondering when you lot were going to show up. This is definitely one spooky-do that you're welcome to."

"PC Davidson," Kathy growled, and Andy nodded his head in deference towards her.

"Excuse me, Ma'am, but you didn't see what just happened in there."

"What _did_ happen, Constable?"

Andy spoke, but it was obvious that he was no longer addressing Kathy, but rather Gwen and, by default, Jack.

"We were doing a search to secure the mall, make sure that everything was safe for SOCCO, when one of the lads called out to say he'd heard something in the food court. We went to check it out, and there was a little girl there."

"A child?" Jack asked, frowning, and Andy nodded.

"Little tyke, couldn't be more than three years old. She was sitting in the food court eating crisps. Well, we figured she might be the kid of the dead bloke, so Tommy goes to talk to her. She took one look at him, and he went flying from one side of the food court to the other. Damn near broke his back! A couple of the other lads tried to grab her, and the same thing happened. We couldn't get near her, and I'm telling you, I don't think she's the dead bloke's little one anymore. I'm thinking maybe she's the one who killed him."

"Don't be ridiculous," Gwen growled, incensed at the idea of a child being labelled a killer. Jack, however, had no such qualms.

"Okay. Kathy, pull your people out, now. We're going in, and we'll let you know when it's secure."

He took off without waiting for her to respond. She watched him go in visible frustration before looking back at the rest of the Torchwood team.

"How in the hell do you lot put up with him?"

"Practise and patience, Kathy," Owen remarked as he headed past her. "Practise, and an awful lot of patience."

"Not to mention, it helps to accept that he knows more than all of us put together," Ianto added bluntly. "You may not like him, Detective Swanson, but you and your officers will be much better off for having paid him heed. Excuse us now. We have a job to do."

He followed Owen, and the others hurried closely behind.

* * *

"He might know a lot," Alex said as they walked, "but does he have to be so arrogant about it?"

"It's not arrogance," Tosh said in defence of Jack. "Not in the way that you're thinking. He behaves the way he does towards the police, because too often we've seen them injured or even killed because they wouldn't listen to what we asked them to do. So in the end, Jack stopped bothering to be polite. He stopped asking, and started telling them what to do. He found they respond better to orders than to suggestions or requests, so that's how he works now. And he has the authority to do it not so much because he's the head of Torchwood, but because he has the knowledge that no one else has."

"Do you always do what he says?" Alex wondered. "Regardless?"

Three pairs of eyes skittered briefly towards Gwen, and Owen spoke wryly.

"Some of us have a little more trouble than others in following orders."

"Some of us aren't blind to the wider consequences," Gwen snapped. "Like now. What if it is really a little girl in there? What is Jack going to do? Take her back and lock her up in the cell next to Janet?"

"Actually," Jack said, where he was suddenly looming in front of them with a hard glint in his eyes, "I was thinking more along the lines of finding her… because she's probably moved on by now… and sedating her so that we can get her back to the Hub and determine whether or not she's human, and then we'll deal with her accordingly."

"She may not be as dangerous as PC Andy thinks," Owen said, placing a slight, derogatory emphasis on the 'PC'. "Whether she's human or alien, it's entirely possible that whatever she did that left the man in there dead, and sent those coppers flying might have just been a defence mechanism. It might not even be something she has control over."

"Which would make her all the more dangerous," Jack said flatly. "Look, I don't want to hurt her, but whatever she is… whoever she is… we need to contain her. Are we agreed on that?"

He was answered by a sea of nodding heads.

"Good," Jack said in audible relief. "Let's go in. Alex and Owen, take the ground floor. Bobby and Gwen, you two take the first floor. Ianto and Tosh, take the second. I'll take the top."

He was off again, and they all had to hurry not to get left behind.

"He likes it on top, then?" Alex asked with a sly smile, and Ianto blushed red at the blatant inference.

"He's good on roofs," he said simply, and hurried off before anymore remarks could be made.

"I can't believe you just said that," Bobby said, eyeing his partner incredulously. Alex grimaced.

"Neither can I."

"And you'll probably pay for it when we get back to the Hub, by way of a nice cup of decaf," Owen told her, trying and failing miserably to hide a satisfied smirk. "On the bright side, though, you'll think twice before opening your mouth again in front of him."

Alex winced at the thought of drinking anything other than pure coffee.

"Remind me to apologise to Ianto first chance that I get."

* * *

"Where do we start?" Alex asked, savouring the feel of the gun in her hand. It was only a stun gun, granted, but just having a weapon served to bolster her confidence significantly.

"Well, PC Andy said they came across her in the food court, so that's where we'll start. Admittedly, he didn't say which food court, so it could be any of the food courts on each of the floors, but at least it's a starting point."

"That PC Andy," Alex went on as they moved with new purpose. "Do you know him?"

"He used to be Gwen's partner, before she joined up with us," Owen explained. "Nice enough kid, but a little bit on the scatty side. Although, don't let Gwen hear you say that about him. Personally, I think our Gwen had a bit of a crush on PC Andy once upon a time. Must have a thing for blokes in uniform. Although, that doesn't really explain how she ended up with…"

Owen froze, as though suddenly aware that he was letting his mouth run riot. He hazarded a glance at Alex, and was mortified to see the knowing look on the woman's face.

"With Rhys," he finished off lamely, but it was clear that the damage had been done.

"You had an affair with her," Alex said quietly, and Owen was surprised that there was no condemnation in her voice.

"It didn't last long," he admitted. "She got smart, and ditched me. She's engaged to her boyfriend, now. Clinging to that normal life that Jack keeps going on about."

He dared another look in her direction, and again was surprised at that lack of disapproval. She saw the expression on his face, and smiled a little.

"I'm the last person to be judging you, Owen. And between us, I don't think you're half as bad as you're trying to make yourself out to be."

A hint of a smile filtered onto Owen's face.

"Is that so, Detective Alex?"

Alex's grin widened a little.

"Yes, that's so, but don't go thinking that charm of yours will work on me. I've got the no fraternisation policy far too ingrained in me to ever try anything with a colleague."

"So, you're saying that you and Bobby have never…?"

"No," she answered firmly. "Never. He's my best friend, but it'll never be anything more than that. I wouldn't want it to be."

"Never say never, Alex," Owen chided her lightly, and Alex grimaced.

"Great. I probably just jinxed myself."

"Food court at ten o'clock," Owen said abruptly, his voice dropping several notches in volume. "Get that stun gun ready, Alex."

Alex lifted the stun gun, and followed Owen around the corner into the food court. There were plenty of nooks and crannies in which a small child could hide, and so they moved from one food stand to the next, checking each one meticulously. It was fairly apparent, though, from the lack of disruption to the surrounding area, that this was not the food court that Andy had been talking about.

"Jack," Owen said, after activating his Bluetooth earpiece, "nothing down here. I don't think the kid is on this floor, but we'll keep looking."

"_Okay, Owen. Be careful, both of you_."

Owen glanced around ruefully at Alex.

"I fucking hate it when he says that."

Alex raised her eyebrows quizzically, but said nothing, waiting instead for Owen to elaborate. He did, sounding more sour with every word that left his lips.

"Give it five minutes. Ten at the most. After that, I guarantee that everything is going to go to shit. It always does."

* * *

On the first floor, Gwen and Bobby had just found the toy shop, and the dead body.

"He just looks like he's sleeping," Gwen murmured sadly as Bobby crouched down for a closer look.

"He never knew what hit him," Bobby mused as he prodded at the body. "Poor bastard was dead before he hit the floor. Hang on..."

He rolled the body over, at the same time telling himself that he no longer had to obey the same sort of restrictions that were in place for cops in the NYPD. As long as he was careful... Assured that there was no gas or any other bizarre substance emanating from the body, Bobby finished rolling it over, and Gwen uttered a cry of distress at the sight.

The man's chest had been ruptured open, and yet the wound was startlingly neat. There was a small pool of blood on the floor, and when Bobby looked closer he was fascinated to discover that the man's insides had been virtually liquefied.

"Not exactly Alien," Gwen muttered. "But still..."

"This is amazing," Bobby enthused. "Gwen, look at this..."

"Actually, I'd rather not," Gwen jumped in quickly. Bobby looked momentarily startled, as though he hadn't honestly expected her to refuse. Then, a sheepish smile flickered across his face, and he leaned backwards, away from the body.

"Sorry. I forget... You're not Alex."

It wasn't said meanly, and his smile softened his words considerably. Gwen smiled back, anxious to show him that no offence had been taken.

"She doesn't mind you poking at dead bodies?"

"I wouldn't say she doesn't mind," Bobby admitted, sounding marginally uncomfortable. "She puts up with me, though. She puts up with a lot, actually."

"Looks like you're worth the effort, though," Gwen said with a warm smile, and Bobby blushed noticeably. Interesting, Gwen mused. He reacted similarly to Ianto when praised or complimented. It was as though he wasn't used to it, and didn't know how to deal with it.

Deciding to cut Bobby some slack, Gwen stepped carefully past the body, and into the toy store.

"So, he found her in here..."

"Lends credence to the theory that it really is a little girl," Bobby said.

"And not just a shape-shifter," Gwen concluded. "I'm not sure whether to feel relieved or not."

Bobby understood where she was coming from with that concern.

"What sort of little girl is capable of doing that?" he murmured, gesturing at the body.

"He wasn't armed, either," Gwen pointed out. "But if she was frightened enough already..."

"It wouldn't have taken much for her to see him as a threat," Bobby said. He was enjoying this, in as much as was possible. Gwen, like Alex, seemed to be a willing sounding board for his ideas, and wasn't afraid to throw out ideas of her own. He always worked better when there was an equally capable mind to back him up.

"She's not here," Bobby said quietly, if somewhat unnecessarily. "We need to keep looking."

He rose up and exited the shop, with Gwen close behind. The former constable paused by the body, though, and looked down at the dead man with a detached sympathy.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, before continuing on after Bobby.

* * *

"So what do you really think of the newbies?" Tosh asked Ianto after making sure her earpiece was set only to receive. She hoped for Owen's sake that Gwen had again forgotten to turn hers on; otherwise the poor bastard was going to be in for it after his little conversation with Alex. Ianto adjusted his own earpiece before responding.

"I think they have a lot of potential. For once, Jack hired someone without thinking with his dick." He paused, taking in the mortified look on Tosh's face before speaking again. "I don't mean that he didn't hire you for your skills, Tosh. I know that isn't true. But I also know for a fact that he fantasises about you and Owen as much as he does about Gwen."

"And that doesn't bother you?" she wondered. Ianto smiled.

"If Jack were from the 21st century, yes. It would bother me a hell of a lot. But he's not from this century, Tosh, and he was raised under a completely different set of morals when it comes to sex and relationships. For him, he honestly doesn't understand why a person can't have more than one lover, or why he shouldn't be able to flirt with whoever he likes. There is nothing wrong with that where... and when... Jack comes from. If we try to impose our 21st century morals on him, he'll only baulk and end up shutting us out. I know he loves me. I know it will never be a monogamous love. But just knowing that he does love me... Well, that's enough."

"Is it really, Ianto?" Tosh asked softly. "I'm sorry for pushing it, but I just don't want to see you get hurt."

Ianto laughed at that notion, though there was a distinctly bitter tinge to it.

"Tosh, if either of us gets hurt, odd are it's going to be Jack. He's the one who faces being left behind after we all die. Frankly, I'm amazed he has the courage to love at all, knowing how much it'll hurt him further down the track."

"I guess you're right," Tosh conceded. "You're lucky, Ianto."

He smiled gently at her.

"I know, and I'm reminded of it every single day that I look at Jack. He's the reason I'm still here, and for him I'll do my damnedest to stay alive. I know that one day I'm going to cause him a hell of a lot of heartbreak, but I'd like to postpone that day for as long as I possibly can."

Tosh smiled, and squeezed his hand.

"C'mon, you big goose. Let's find that little girl so that we can get out of here and go home."

* * *

The security office was on the top floor, and that was where Jack headed first. He had no trouble getting in there. The door was wide open in a perfect invitation. He entered quickly, and with confidence, taking in the state of the room as he went. There were chocolate bar wrappers, empty crisp bags and at least five drained cans of beer scattered around the room, and Jack was starting to get a picture of what had happened.

The dead man, he guessed, was no employee of the mall. They already knew that. However, it looks like he had probably been subbing, perhaps for a mate. He went to check out a disturbance, found the little girl... or something masquerading as a little girl... and next thing, he was just a pile of meat and bones.

A couple of button pushes later, and Jack found himself watching footage of the dead man walking through the mall. Definitely not an official employee, Jack mused. If the lack of uniform wasn't enough of a giveaway, the way the poor bastard radiated terror was.

The man reached the toy shop, and Jack watched the image of him entering. A couple of minutes passed, and then the delicate figure of a little girl emerged, clutching what looked like a couple of stuffed animals. Even as Jack watched, she turned and wandered away, out of sight of the camera. The man never re-emerged from inside the toy shop.

It was impossible to know from the CCTV footage alone just what they were dealing with, although Jack was almost positive that it wasn't human. He hoped ferociously that the child had merely acted in self defence, but the calm way in which she left the toy shop suggested otherwise to Jack.

"Anyone had any luck yet?" he asked into the comm., and got back three negative responses. "Okay, be careful, all of you. Whoever or whatever this kid is, she's dangerous. Do not take any unnecessary risks, and call me as soon as you find anything."

Shaking his head grimly at the now blank CCTV footage, he turned and ran from the room.

* * *

Jack had only just finished giving out his warning when Ianto heard the sound of a child crying nearby. A glance at Toshiko told him that she had heard it also, and was nodding in the direction that she believed it was coming from. Moving with extreme care, Ianto edged around the corner and froze. Sitting on an oversized armchair that was part of a furnished rest area with the mall, was the child that they were hunting.

She didn't seem to be aware of their presence and was instead focused on the two stuffed animals in her arms, crying softly. Despite the uncertainty of the situation, Ianto felt his heart go out to the child. Before he had a chance to really think about what he was doing, he gave his gun to Tosh, along with a whispered order to stay back.

"Ianto, what are you doing?" Tosh hissed. "Jack will kill you!"

"Yes, well, I'll deal with that when I need to," he muttered. "Just stay here, and if this goes badly, then I'll need you to call for help. Just, keep yourself safe, okay?"

He didn't give her a chance to respond. Heart in his throat, he ventured out into the open, into the child's line of sight.

She was instantly aware of his presence the moment he moved into the open area, and her young face tightened with obvious suspicion. Ianto held his hands out in as submissive and non-threatening a gesture as he could manage, and smiling warmly to try and convey to her that he was no threat.

He got to within ten feet of the child when he felt a sudden tightness in his chest, and realised with fright that his heart rate was escalating dangerously. Forcing himself not to panic, while also aware that verbal pleas would be pointless, he instead took a deliberate step backwards, and sat down on the carpeted floor.

The gamble paid off, and he felt the tightness in his chest steadily easing off. The little girl watched him with a slight frown, and diminishing suspicion. Relieved, Ianto offered the child another smile.

"My name is Ianto," he told her softly. "Can you tell me what you're name is, then?"

The suspicion faded to make way for confusion.

"Mai?" she asked tentatively, and Ianto silently cursed at the realisation that she didn't seem to understand English. Moving slowly, he lifted one hand and patted his own chest.

"Ianto."

"Anno," the child echoed, getting slightly tongue-tied in her efforts to pronounce his name. Ianto's smile widened a little.

"Yan," he said, resorting to the nickname a thoroughly loathed nickname in a reluctant compromise. The child, however, had apparently decided that he was called 'Anno', and nothing was going to dissuade her.

"Anno," she stated firmly, and Ianto couldn't help but laugh. Seemingly reassured by both the sound and Ianto's non-threatening posture where he sat on the floor, the child slid off the chair and toddled towards him. Ianto watched her approach with increasing curiosity and dwindling fear. He was more certain than ever that whatever power she'd unleashed that had resulted in the death of a man, and the assault on the police constables, it had been out of fear, and not out of any malicious desire to cause harm. She really was just a scared, lost little girl, he realised sadly; yet another victim of the bloody rift.

She came to a halt in front of him, and stood there, studying him intently. Then, as though she'd suddenly come to the conclusion that he was safe, she sat down in front of him with a soft thud, and held out the penguin to him.

"Dooka."

Ianto took the proffered toy in mild amusement.

"Dooka?"

She reached over and patted the penguin.

"Sii dooka." She then waved her bear at him. "Ba. Enna ba."

"Dooka," Ianto repeated. "And ba." He paused, and then tried something else. "Penguin."

She looked at him quizzically.

"Mai?"

He suspected that 'mai' possibly translated into 'what'. Hoping he was right, he patted the toy and spoke again.

"Penguin." He then reached out and touched the bear. "Teddy bear."

Abruptly, she began to giggle, and Ianto had to resist an urge to roll his eyes. Gods, she sounded just like Jack. A moment later, he was startled when she suddenly climbed into his lap, and snuggled in against him. He slipped his arms around her, and held her gently, anxious that she feel safe, and not restrained.

"Anno," she murmured, burying her face in his shoulder.

"You poor love," Ianto whispered.

He heard footsteps approaching, and looked up to see Tosh coming around into his line of sight. He was relieved to see that she'd put their weapons away, out of sight. The little girl had also noticed her approach, and was clinging all the more fiercely to Ianto. He rubbed her back gently.

"This is Tosh. She's my friend."

Slowly, Tosh crouched down and smiled at the child.

"Hello, sweetheart."

Tentatively, the child reached out and the tips of her fingers brushed against Tosh's cheek. She then turned away shyly and buried her face in Ianto's shoulder once more.

"Did you see her eyes?" Tosh asked, careful to keep her tone light. "I've never seen eyes as green as hers."

"I know," Ianto agreed. "Wherever she's from, I don't think it's this planet. Tosh, you'd better call Jack and the others. Tell them we've found her. And tell them to put their weapons away before they get here, and not to come charging in here like idiots, otherwise god knows what might happen."

She rose up and disappeared from sight, and a moment later he could hear her speaking in a subdued voice to their colleagues.

"Now, what about you, little one?" Ianto murmured to the child who was currently curled up in his arms. "What's your name?"

"Leya."

Ianto blinked in surprise.

"Leia? Is that your name?"

She lifted her head to look him in the eye and spoke primly, as only a child could.

"Eleya."

She pronounced each syllable clearly and concisely, leaving him in no doubt as to what her name was.

"Eleya," he echoed softly. "That's a beautiful name. Now, if only we knew where your mummy and daddy are."

At that, he felt a rippling shudder through the little girl's body, and her tiny hands clutched at his jacket.

"Dada…"

She began to cry again, clutching at him tightly, desperately, as though terrified that he was going to vanish on her.

"What happened to you?" he wondered aloud. "Where's your daddy?"

"Dada kun maya dumo," Eleya sobbed. And then unexpectedly, she managed to speak a few words in broken English. "Dada gone. Bad men, Dada gone…"

She dissolved into a fresh flood of tears. Ianto promptly abandoned any concerns about holding her too tightly, and wrapped her up in a fierce hug.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"Ianto?"

He looked up to find Owen had appeared, looking partly amused and partly irritated.

"Jack is going to skin you alive, mate."

"Good luck to him with that," Ianto retorted. "Look, she's just a scared and lost little girl, Owen."

"Who killed one man and disabled half a dozen others."

"She felt threatened. And no, I'm not letting go of her so you can start poking and prodding her."

Alex, who had come around the other side of Ianto and crouched down for a better look, reached out and stroked her matted hair in a tender gesture. The child turned her head to peer at Alex, who favoured the girl with a warm smile.

"Hello, sweetheart. You don't have to be scared. We're not going to hurt you."

She then looked up at Ianto, still smiling.

"Good call, Mr Jones."

Ianto grimaced.

"Thankyou, but Owen's right. Jack is going to kill me."

"You got that right."

Ianto winced a little at Jack's stern voice behind him.

"Jack…"

"Don't, Ianto," Jack growled. "We'll discuss it later. Now, what have we got?"

"It's just a little girl, Jack," Tosh said quickly. "Just a scared little girl."

"With a hell of a lot of power," Jack added. "Don't get carried away here, people. We still need to secure her and get her back to the Hub…"

His words were interrupted abruptly by a loud squeal from the bundle in Ianto's arms. At the initial sound of Jack's voice, Eleya had raised her face from where it was buried in Ianto's shoulder, her eyes wide. She peeked over Ianto's shoulder to identify the source of the new voice, and when she saw Jack she let out a wail and began to fight tooth and nail to escape from Ianto's hold.

"What…?" Ianto stammered in confusion. "Eleya, what are you doing?"

She squirmed furiously, slipping out of his grasp, darting around him and barrelling straight towards Jack. The Captain was just reaching for his Webley in an instinctive reaction when the little girl collided with him, and he found himself with approximately two feet of child wrapped around his leg like a limpet.

"Looks like you've got an admirer, Jack," Alex remarked. The expression on Jack's face told them all that he was markedly unimpressed. Getting up from where he'd been sitting on the floor, Ianto walked over and placed his hand on Eleya's shoulders, intending to detach her from Jack, but the little girl was having none of it. She clung even more tightly, and shrieked in protest.

"Nai! Nai!"

"Ianto!" Jack growled, but the young Welshman could only shrug.

"I'm sorry, Jack, but she doesn't want to be moved."

Jack peered down at the child who was currently hugging his leg. She raised her eyes to his, and he felt a sharp jolt deep in his mind, like something inexplicable stirring. After a moment's consideration, he made up his mind, and leaned down to pick her up.

"What did you say her name was?" he asked.

"Eleya," Ianto replied. "She doesn't seem to speak very much English, but I get the feeling that she understands quite well. And, she was very specific about her name."

"Eleya," Jack said softly, and Eleya peered up at Jack, her green eyes shining with visible joy.

"Dumia enna kun," she said happily, before throwing her arms around his neck in a ferocious hug, startling Jack greatly. He exchanged looks with Ianto, and it took an enormous effort on Ianto's part not to simply burst out laughing. In the end, the only thing that kept him from doing just that was the growing wonder on Jack's face as he held Eleya in his arms. Whatever the reason behind it, Eleya had latched onto Jack and her trust in him seemed to be rock solid. That seemed to have registered with Jack, judging by the wave of emotion that Ianto was getting from him.

"Any idea what she's saying?" Ianto wondered, but Jack shook his head.

"I don't recognise the language, not completely. There are bits that sound like 51st century dialect, but it's mixed with another language that I don't understand." He frowned as he shifted his grip on the child so that they were both a bit more comfortable. "I feel like I should know it, but I don't. Tosh, I'll need you to run your translation program when we get back to the Hub, and see if we can identify where she's from. Hopefully, it won't be too hard to get her home."

"And in the meantime, you have yourself a new attachment," Owen remarked dryly. Jack glowered at him.

"Don't, Owen. Just don't. Not now."

The medic held his hands up defensively.

"You want me to give her the once over before we get out of here?"

Jack nodded.

"Yeah... and where are Gwen and Bobby?"

"Here," Gwen called out somewhat breathlessly as she and Bobby finally came around the corner. "We found the dead man. Not the prettiest sight there... Oh, you found her..."

"Ianto and Toshiko found her," Jack clarified. "And I'll be having a little chat with Mr Jones later about following proper procedure. But right now, if you wouldn't mind, Dr Harper?"

Owen stepped in and reached out towards the little girl. Her reaction was fairly explicit as she gave a frightened cry and buried her face in Jack's shoulder.

"It's okay," Jack murmured, stroking her hair lightly and grimacing a little at the dirt that was caked through it. "Owen isn't going to hurt you. He just wants to make sure that you're not hurt. It's okay, I've got you."

Eleya whimpered faintly and murmured a single word that brought them all up short.

"Dada."

"Did she just call you Dada?" Alex asked incredulously. Jack looked marginally uncomfortable.

"It's just transference. She's latched on to me in place of her father. It's not unlike a bird that's just hatched."

"You mean imprinting," Bobby offered, and Jack nodded. Tosh, however, spoke up in puzzlement.

"But if that's what it is, wouldn't she have attached herself to Ianto?"

"Tosh is right," Owen said, sounding entirely too gleeful for Jack's liking. "That isn't imprinting. This kid really thinks you're her daddy!"

Jack didn't look like he knew whether to be amused or annoyed, and finally settled for something in between.

"Can we please get out of here, and get back to the Hub before anything else happens? I, for one, would like to find out who this kid really is, and where she's from so that we can get her home."

"Can we do that?" Bobby wondered as they began to head back towards the mall's main entrance. "Send things back through the rift?"

"With specific coordinates, and this," Jack said, indicating his vortex manipulator. "Yes, I can take her home myself, wherever home is."

"Unless we're talking about a parallel dimension," Owen added. "In which case, we're stuck with her."

"In which case," Jack said tersely, "we'll deal with it somehow. We have procedures for cases like this... I just don't ever recall needing to put them into action. If need be, I'll call the Doctor and ask for his help… but I'd like to avoid that if I can. I think we can handle this on our own."

"She certainly seems to have taken to you," Alex commented, taking care to keep her tone gentle and non-confrontational. Jack couldn't help but smile as he glanced down at the small bundle in his arms. The little girl was curled in against him, with her arms locked around his neck and her head on his shoulder. As he had confirmed to Ianto, he was not empathic at all, but he could literally feel the love and joy coming off her in waves. It was nearly overwhelming. He didn't understand it, but he wasn't going to reject it, either.

It had been a very long time since he'd encountered anyone — adult, child or otherwise — who had taken to him with such complete trust and, dare he even think it — love. He didn't know who this little girl was, but for some unfathomable reason, she already loved him unconditionally.

They emerged from the mall into the early morning light, and were immediately accosted by Kathy Swanson, who was eyeing Eleya as though she was booby-trapped.

"You aren't seriously going to tell me that this is who's responsible for the dead man in there, and my injured officers?" she asked incredulously. Jack twisted a little as he moved past her, strangely anxious to keep Eleya from being grabbed, poked or prodded by the detective.

"We haven't determined anything yet, Kathy. But I'll be sure to let you know."

"Yeah, sure you will," she retorted. "And what about the little girl? What are you going to do with her? Take her back to your little hidey hole, wherever that is?"

"As a matter of fact, that's exactly what we're going to do," Owen stated as Jack carried Eleya over to the SUV. "And you can do yourself a favour by forgetting about her. But don't worry, the scene is secure... and we're leaving you the body this time."

By then, she was staring at him as though he'd grown a second head.

"You're leaving us the body," she echoed bluntly. "Well, isn't that just so bloody generous of you!"

Jack grinned as he headed on towards the SUV.

"I thought so. But that's me for you, isn't it?"

"Damn it, Jack Harkness, come back here!" she bellowed after him. "That little girl needs proper care!" she protested. "You should be giving her over to human services, so that we can find her parents!"

"We'll take care of that," Jack called back dismissively over his shoulder. She watched him go, shaking her head in disgusted frustration.

"Bloody Torchwood."

* * *

Ianto was already at the SUV when Jack got there with Eleya. The Welshman favoured her with a warm smile, and she giggled softly in response.

"Anno."

Jack raised an eyebrow bemusedly, and Ianto shrugged.

"She couldn't quite get her tongue around 'Ianto'. I tried to get her to call me Yan, but 'Anno' seemed to stick."

"You told me you hate being called Yan," Jack pouted.

"Yes, I do, when the one calling me that is a hundred and something year old immortal who should damned well know better. She, on the other hand, couldn't be older than two or three years. She gets dispensation. You don't."

Jack jiggled Eleya very lightly.

"Anno's a big meanie, isn't he?"

It was Ianto's turn to raise an eyebrow as Eleya giggled wildly, and Jack just shrugged and grinned. His grin faded, though, when Ianto held out his hand.

"Keys, Jack."

Jack opened his mouth to protest, but Ianto cut him off firmly.

"Eleya is clearly not about to let go of you anytime soon, sir, and the SUV is not equipped with child restraints. You are going to have to hold her."

The Captain looked down at Eleya, who stared back up at him with a hopeful smile. He suspected that Ianto had been right in his earlier supposition that whilst Eleya didn't speak much English, she did have a reasonable understanding of what she was hearing.

"How about it, sweetheart?" he asked. "Do _you_ want to sit on my lap?"

Ianto rolled his eyes as he climbed in behind the steering wheel.

"That would be obscene if you weren't holding an infant. In fact, I'm not sure that it isn't anyway."

Jack shook his head as he got in, and settled Eleya on his lap before pulling the seatbelt securely around them both.

"And you accuse me of having a filthy mind."

"Doorun maya kunjin, Dada?" Eleya asked excitedly. Jack sighed and stroked her cheek lightly.

"We're going to have to try and teach you some English, sweetheart. Then we might be able to find out who your daddy really is."

"She seems pretty sure that it's you," Alex remarked as she settled into the SUV beside Jack and Eleya. Jack, however, shook his head.

"Maybe I look like him, and that's why she's fixed on me."

"It's probably just as well," Bobby mused. "I overheard Owen listing the tests that he wants to run on her when we get back. You might be the only hope she has of staying calm. Especially if she really did do that to that man in the toy shop."

Jack looked up at Bobby sharply, but there was no condemnation in Bobby's expression. He caught the look that Jack was giving him, and spoke quietly.

"I think she did do it, but she did it out of fear. Look at her left wrist, Jack. That's a hand-shaped bruise coming up. I'd say the dead guy tried to grab her… I noticed he had a bite mark on his hand, so I'm guessing that she bit him to make him let go of her. And there's a bruise on her cheek. He probably slapped her when she bit him. She was frightened, and I don't think she was in full control of what she did."

"She managed to get a few words of English out while Tosh was calling all of you," Ianto piped up. "She said that her daddy was gone. She also said 'bad men'. I'd say that she and her father were being chased, and they've gotten separated somehow."

Jack frowned.

"If that's what happened, then she only acted in self-defence. Even if the dead guy didn't mean to hurt her, there's no way she could have understood that, and if he did hit her… But then, that begs the question of who is chasing her?"

"And are they going to show up here?" Alex added grimly. Silence fell, as each one of them thought the same thing. They hoped not. They really hoped not.

* * *

The trip back to the Hub was filled with childish laughter as Jack unsuccessfully tried to egg Ianto into going faster, in order to beat Owen back. Ianto steadfastly ignored Jack as the Captain alternated between taunts and pleas in an effort to get the younger man to speed up. In the end, Jack was silenced when Ianto snapped at him that he might be immortal but the rest of them, and in particular the little girl on his lap, were not, and would he kindly shut up before they had an accident.

Visibly and thoroughly chastened, Jack fell into a doleful silence until Eleya twisted around on his lap and stretched up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Dono arri, Dada," she told him sweetly, and again Jack was taken aback by the love and trust in the little girl's eyes. Never before had he experienced that sort of complete faith from someone else except, perhaps, with… But, no. He was not going down that path with his memories. It was far too painful.

And despite his whole-hearted attempts to maintain a professional stance, by the time the SUV pulled up at the Hub, Jack had fallen head over heels for the little girl who so steadfastly believed that he was her precious daddy.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	8. Back at the Hub

"Told you we'd make it back before them," Owen said blithely as Jack, Ianto, Bobby and Alex climbed out of the SUV in the Torchwood garage. "Ianto drives like my grandmother."

"Excuse me for wanting to ensure that we got here safely, given that Jack had to nurse Eleya on his lap," Ianto retorted. "And since you were driving your own car this time, if you got photographed by any speed cameras, you can deal with it yourself. Not to mention that you can make your own coffee. I'm sure Gwen will be happy to let you use her instant coffee maker."

"Testy bastard, aren't you?" Owen snorted. Jack smirked as he lifted Eleya out of the SUV, and settled her against his hip.

"Language, Dr Harper. We want Eleya to learn English, but not that sort."

"I apologise," Owen said in a saccharine sweet tone. "Now, would you please bring our guest downstairs so that I can start running tests?"

"You're not going to do anything that'll hurt her, will you?" Bobby asked, and Owen responded with a gruff shake of his head.

"No, just a few standard tests. It's nothing to worry about, and it won't hurt her a bit." He paused, and then added snarkily; "As long as the good Captain stays with her, she should be fine."

Jack nodded in acquiescence.

"I can do that."

"Jack," Alex asked as they made their way back into the Hub, "why did we leave the body behind at the mall? Shouldn't we have brought it back with us?"

"Ordinarily, yes," Jack answered. "But in this instance, our best evidence is right here, in this little one."

"Plus," Owen added, "there's nothing that the local coppers are going to get from the body that will help them."

"And we'll keep an eye on their computer system just in case," Tosh concluded.

"Okay with that, Alex?" Jack asked, watching her pointedly. Alex smiled ruefully.

"I have to stop thinking NYPD, and start thinking Torchwood."

Jack's expression relaxed visibly, and he favoured her with a warm, genuine smile.

"You'll get there, gorgeous. Don't worry."

And with that, he swung around and headed off to the autopsy bay with Eleya still in his arms. After a long moment, the others finally seemed to accept that as a dismissal and began to disperse to their individual workstations. Bobby, after a moment's consideration, turned and followed in Jack's wake to the autopsy bay to see if he could be of assistance. Alex was about to rejoin Tosh at her workstation when she felt movement behind her.

"Congratulations," Ianto murmured in her ear, and she looked around at him, startled.

"For what?"

His smile was equally as genuine as Jack's had been as he urged her to follow him over to the coffee machine.

"For passing the test."

Alex blinked at him, thoroughly baffled. After a moment, Ianto took pity on her, and explained himself.

"Twice today, Alex. Earlier, you could easily have gotten into an argument with Bobby, but you chose to take the higher road, and avoid a fight, which was in everyone's best interests. And just now, you didn't fall into the trap of apologising. That was well done, and greatly appreciated by Jack."

She couldn't help herself, and her eyes strayed oh-so-briefly to Gwen. Ianto chuckled softly.

"Don't misunderstand me. Jack loves her every bit as much as Owen and Toshiko. But she does have a tendency to drive him up the wall. For example, there was this case that we had just before we had to come to New York. We discovered a truckload of alien meat that was headed for the manufacturing plants."

Alex couldn't stop herself from shuddering.

"Alien meat? Seriously?"

"Oh yes. The trouble was that the trucking firm that was transporting it is managed by Rhys Williams, Gwen's fiancée. He got suspicious over Gwen's involvement in the investigation, and decided to do some investigating of his own, and he ended up right in the middle of it."

"And it was...?"

"Extremely unpleasant when we got to the bottom of it," Ianto replied grimly. "It turned out that there was a group of young men who had come across an alien... like a manatee. They locked it up in a warehouse and began their own private meat supply business."

"Oh god," Alex muttered.

"It gets worse," Ianto told her apologetically. "The alien was still alive. It had a regenerative ability, not unlike Jack's, and it was able to survive while they literally cut huge pieces out of it. It was bloody awful, absolutely sickening. Jack had hoped to save it, but it was the size of a ruddy whale by the time we got there. In the end, Owen had to kill it. There was nothing else we could do. Jack was devastated..."

"Because of what happened to him?" Alex broke in, and Ianto looked startled.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean during that year," she said with a slight frown, wondering if the comparison really hadn't yet occurred to the young Welshman. "When Jack was held prisoner by the Master. He must have been able to sympathise from that. Being hung up like a slab of meat, and having someone come and take a piece of him whenever they felt like it. I don't blame him for being devastated. It sounds to me like he wanted to save it, because no one was there to save him when he was in that situation."

Ianto stared down at her, amazed by her insight. The truth was that in the stress of everything that had happened, that line of thought had not occurred to him at all. And then, with what had happened after the fact, he had been so angry and hurt, that he hadn't stopped to consider that he might have been utterly wrong about why Jack appeared so depressed.

"Fuck," he muttered, yanking his hand back as the steam threatened to scald him. Alex stared up at him, confused by his distraction.

"Ianto? What is it?"

"Nothing," he murmured, and then thought twice about that reply. "Sorry, it's not nothing. I'm just a little thrown. In all honesty, I'd never considered that. I got into a fight with the bloke who was running the operation, and I probably would have been killed if his gun hadn't jammed. And then Jack sent me after him like nothing had happened! I was pissed off about that, even though he was right. I was the only one in a position to go after the bastard. But then, afterwards..."

"Afterwards?" Alex pressed. Ianto let his breath out in a faint sigh.

"Jack told Gwen to retcon Rhys. He said that Rhys couldn't be allowed to remember, for his sake and ours. Gwen begged Jack to let her do it, but then she came back later and told Jack to his face that she wouldn't do it, and wouldn't allow anyone else to do it. She gave him a nice long speech about how none of us could possibly understand how she felt, because we didn't have partners on the outside, and that Rhys was all she had, and if Jack was going to retcon him, then he'd have to wipe her memory, too."

"She used emotional blackmail on him?" Alex asked in shock, and Ianto nodded, visibly agitated.

"Yes, although I don't think she really understood the full impact of what she was doing. I don't believe she stopped to think about all the people Jack has lost over the years, and that if she walked away like that, he'd effectively be losing her, too."

"What did he do?" Alex asked, although she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to know. Ianto smiled sadly.

"He gave in to her. He let Rhys keep his memories. Turned out to be a sound choice in the end, because Rhys has proven to be reliable. He's not talked to anyone about what he knows about us, which is ultimately for his own safety, anyway."

"But you were angry about Jack giving in," Alex murmured, peering at him intently. Ianto regarded her with curiosity.

"I think Jack may have been right. I think you might have some degree of empathic ability. We'll have to get him to test you."

Alex scoffed.

"That's Bobby. Not me."

He laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently, silencing her protests.

"We already know that Bobby has strong empathic talent. I'm not just saying this, Alex. I really think you do, too."

She looked suddenly like she wanted to be anywhere but there, and Ianto decided to be kind, and switch back to their original subject.

"Yes, I was angry, and I'm afraid that I let that rule me. Of course, Jack seemed fine the next morning... but then, he always does. He would never have told me if he wasn't. And then Gwen came in, acting like nothing was wrong in the world... I honestly could have throttled her that morning, Alex. Part of me is still wondering why I didn't."

Alex laughed softly.

"Is she really that frustrating? Because from what I heard and saw back home in New York, she seems to be very capable, and extremely smart."

"Oh, she is," Ianto agreed firmly. "I would never dispute that. But she is also stubborn, headstrong and, at times, utterly short-sighted. She defies Jack regularly, and often in front of the rest of us. If she thinks she's right about something, she'll stick to that conviction, no matter what. I feel like she lives inside a little box, where the world is the way she wants it to be, and she'll fight tooth and nail to keep it that way. Sometimes it has to take a larger consequence for her to be able to see outside that box, if you know what I mean."

Alex nodded wryly.

"Yes, I know exactly what you mean. All too often, I've watched Bobby back himself into a corner because he's gotten himself onto a single track and couldn't get off again. Nicole Wallace is a perfect example of that."

Ianto raised an eyebrow, sensing an intriguing story behind the venom in Alex's tone when she spoke the woman's name.

"Not a friend, I take it?"

Alex snorted derisively.

"Not by a long shot. She first came to our attention about six years ago, and she fixated on Bobby... probably because Bobby was the only one who managed to suss out who she really was. Only problem was, she was almost as smart as him. She bolted the first time, and when she showed up again, she wove an elaborate scheme to discredit Bobby. It nearly worked, too. She not only discredited him to the media and our superiors, but she also managed to crush him emotionally. She's turned up a number of times since then... Always manages to escape jail, and always comes back to torment Bobby."

"You know you have the advantage now, if she turns up again?" Ianto told her with a small, knowing smile. Alex chuckled.

"I know, and I honestly can't say whether I want her to show up or not. Part of me would be happy if I never saw her again, and part of me hopes she does make an appearance, because she'll get one hell of a shock if she does."

"Decisions, decisions," Ianto said theatrically, and Alex laughed.

"You're a gem. You know that, don't you?"

"So Jack keeps telling me," Ianto said dryly. "Among other things, which you'll forgive me if I don't repeat here and now."

Alex laughed openly at that.

"I really do like you, Ianto."

Despite the pink tinge to his cheeks, Ianto smiled widely at his new colleague. Before he had a chance to respond in kind, though, there was a childish scream from the direction of the autopsy bay, followed by a tremendous crash that nearly had all of them jumping out of their skins in fright.

"What the hell was that?" Gwen burst out, and without waiting for anyone else to speculate, she scrambled to her feet and bolted towards the autopsy bay. Toshiko, Ianto and Alex were right behind her, all anxious to see what had gone wrong.

In the autopsy bay, they were met with a startling sight. Jack was by the table, his arms around Eleya and murmuring soothing words to her as she cried loudly into his shoulder. Bobby was standing nearby, his eyes wide with shock, while Owen...

Toshiko uttered a slightly undignified cry and rushed over to where Owen lay, on the other side of the room, in the middle of a slew of medical equipment, looking more than a little dazed.

"Jack?" Gwen spoke when no one else did. "What on earth happened?"

"Eleya happened," Bobby answered softly when Jack ignored the question. "Owen was trying to take a blood sample. He got as far as placing the needle against her skin when she screamed, and the next thing, he's lying over there."

"Oh my god," Tosh whispered with a mixture of horror and amazement. "She's telekinetic. Jack, you know what that means, don't you?"

He shot her a warning look.

"I know it means that she's most likely not human, not from Earth, and she's going to need a lot of care in order to learn how to control what she does."  
Tosh clamped her mouth shut, recognising the growing tension in Jack's expression and demeanour only too well. Owen, however, had no compunctions about speaking out.

"She's bloody dangerous, Jack! We've got to..."

"Got to what, Owen?" Jack demanded, looking angrily at his medic. "Lock her up?"

"For God's sake, Owen, she's just a little girl!" Gwen burst out. Owen glowered unappreciatively at her as he got awkwardly to his feet.

"I am so glad you didn't add 'helpless' into that sentence, Miss Cooper."

"Seriously, Owen, what should we do?" Jack asked. "Tell me, please, since you seem to know, and I don't."

Owen shook his head.

"No. No way. I am not going to go butting heads with you when you're in a mood like this, Jack."

Jack's expression darkened.

"What mood?"

"Look at you, Jack," Owen snapped. "You're in total daddy mode! Next thing we know, you'll be playing house and happy families with Ianto!"

Jack took a long, steadying breath, and studiously ignored the smiles that were shared around his team.

"Do you actually need a blood sample from her, Owen?"

"Yes, I actually do. Are you offering to get it from her?"

Jack frowned, and when he spoke it was with audible forced calm.

"Whatever you need, you take from me first."

Owen blinked in surprise. It was obvious he hadn't expected to hear that.

"Sorry? Let me get this straight. You're actually telling me to take blood from you? You're going to let me take blood from you?"

Jack pointed a finger at him threateningly.

"Yes, and if you do anything to make me regret it, I'll let Ianto shoot you again."

Owen looked up to where Ianto stood at the railing with Alex, Tosh and Gwen, smirking down at him. Groaning, Owen sighed as he collected a syringe with which to draw blood.

"All right, Harkness. Sit up there next to the kid, and roll up your sleeve."

Struggling to stop glaring for Eleya's sake, Jack slipped his coat off and passed it up into Ianto's waiting hands, and then boosted himself up onto the table beside her and rolled up his sleeve.

"Dada?" Eleya asked softly, and he smiled down at her in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Uncle Owen is just going to take a bit of blood from me, so you can see that there isn't anything to worry about."

"Uncle Owen?" Owen retorted as he walked over and began to wrap a blood pressure cuff around Jack's arm. "You can't be serious."

Jack merely smirked and raised his eyebrows, as though daring Owen to challenge him. Owen scowled as he swabbed a spot on Jack's forearm with a sterilisation wipe, and then slid the needle into Jack's arm.

Eleya watched with a distinctly suspicious expression that was gradually calmed by the lack of reaction from Jack. He smiled down at her, his face betraying no fear or pain. When Owen finally withdrew the syringe, Jack showed her the pinprick mark that the needle had left in his flesh.

"See, gorgeous? Nothing to worry about."

Eleya reached over and touched the mark nervously, and then looked up quizzically at Jack. He winked at her, and then held his arm up for Owen to tape a small patch over the needle mark. Once he'd done that, he turned to look at Eleya.

"What about you, then? You going to be as brave as Daddy here?"

"Owen," Jack growled softly, but Owen was utterly unapologetic.

"Careful, Jack. You don't want to upset her."

Eleya looked from one to the other before abruptly extended her arm towards Owen, and screwing her little face up as she braced herself. Grinning to himself, Owen took the blood as quickly and carefully as he could, both surprised and grateful when all that happened in reaction to the needle was a tiny whimper from the little girl – a sound that was quickly soothed when Jack wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"There, all done," Owen announced. "And for the brave little trooper..."

He turned away and rummaged through a desk drawer for a long minute before shouting in triumph. When he turned back to them, he was holding a lollipop. Whether she knew exactly what it was, they didn't know, but she certainly seemed to understand that it was a treat. She reached out and took the lollipop from Owen, and smiled shyly at him.

"Kyoo."

"I think she just said thankyou," Ianto pointed out, and Owen glanced at him in annoyance.

"I think I got that, thankyou very much." When he looked back, though, he was puzzled to find Jack watching him with a visible pout. "What?"

"Where's mine?" he asked, much to Owen's incredulity.

"Your...? Bloody hell, Harkness." He retrieved a second lollipop from the desk, and shoved it into the Captain's hand, who visibly perked up at the treat. "If I'd known two years ago that all it took to shut you up was a lollipop, I'd have kept a stash here for you."

"Trust me, Owen," Ianto remarked dryly. "It takes much more than a lollipop to shut him up."

"Hey!" Jack growled, but Ianto only smiled serenely at him in response.

"Okay," Alex called out, eager to get the conversation back on track. "We still haven't decided what we're going to do about the little girl."

"We can't lock her up," Bobby said firmly. "It wouldn't be moral."

Jack smiled grimly.

"Sometimes what's right and what's moral don't always equate in this job, Bobby. You need to understand that there are going to be times when you'll have to do something that you don't always agree with in order to save other lives."

"Like when we get bloody blowfish invasions," Gwen said ruefully. Jack nodded.

"That's on example."

"I understand that," Bobby said quietly. "I get it. But each time Eleya has done something, it's been out of self-defence. You can't punish her for trying to protect herself."

"This isn't about punishment," Jack assured him. "It's about making sure we make decisions that don't result in anyone getting hurt." He paused, looking down at Eleya, who was happily sucking on her lollipop. "Anyone else getting hurt."

"So what do we do?" Tosh asked, looking distinctly worried. They all knew full well that Jack was easily capable of making ruthless decisions based on the greater good, and not one of them doubted that Jack might make a decision that they would all consider reprehensible. After all, it was not the first time he had sacrificed a child, and the sad story of Jasmine Pierce still lingered in all their memories.

Jack looked around at his team slowly, taking in their apprehensive expressions and feeling a sharp pang. He could guess what they were thinking, and he couldn't deny that it hurt. Did they really think he would so willingly sacrifice Eleya? He wondered exactly what they were expecting him to do, and just as quickly decided that he really did not want to know.

Reaching around, he lifted Eleya up and settled her back on his lap. She grinned up at him around the lollipop, and he couldn't help but smile back in return. Every time she looked at him, he felt his insides twist, although he honestly didn't understand why.

"Okay, sweetheart, how about we start by getting you cleaned up? You looked like you crawled through the bowels of a Sontaran cruiser."

She giggled, even though he was fairly certain that she didn't understand what he'd just said. Jack smiled tenderly at her, and slid off the table, with the little girl held protectively in his arms.

"Ianto, we're going to need clean clothes for her."

Ianto raised an eyebrow at the Captain in bemusement.

"And you think I have a stash of children's clothes somewhere in the Hub?"

"We can go shopping!" Gwen burst out suddenly. "It's after nine, the shops will be open by now. Tosh, Alex and I can go and buy some things for her."

Alex blinked in surprise.

"We can...?"

Jack bit back a smirk at her reaction.

"Why don't you and Tosh go, Gwen? I need Alex here to help with Eleya."

For a brief moment, Alex looked taken aback, only to quickly recover and nod her acquiescence. Gwen looked slightly put-out, for reasons that were beyond Jack's comprehension, but she conceded and hurried off with Tosh to go and buy the needed supplies.

"I'm not sure whether to thank you or not," Alex said wryly. Jack chuckled.

"Wait and see how we go with bath time. You might wish you had gone with Gwen and Tosh."

Alex smirked as she followed him up from the autopsy bay.

"Believe me, it'd take a hell of a lot to make me wish that."

Jack paused at the top of the steps, and looked back to Bobby.

"Bobby, would you be able to help Owen out with whatever tests he needs to run on that blood sample?"

Bobby nodded, happy to have something practical to do.

"And get Ianto to bring her clothes back here when you've got them off her!" Owen shouted after them. "I want to run tests on them, too."

Jack merely waved in response and kept walking. Owen rolled his eyes and looked back at Bobby.

"All right, Bobby. Let's get started."

Bobby followed Owen over to one of his work benches.

"Do you really think that Jack might actually be her father?"

Owen shrugged.

"I don't know. But the kid seemed pretty certain of it, didn't she?"

Bobby glanced towards the upper level, half expecting Jack to reappear and reprimand them for gossiping.

"I know he's been alive for a long time, but surely he'd know if he'd fathered a child...?"

Owen looked back at Bobby in open amusement.

"You used to be a detective, Bobby. Seriously, mate, think about what you're saying. How many times have you dealt with blokes who didn't know they had a kid? And this is Jack that we're talking about. The man probably shagged half the bloody galaxy before he landed on Earth. Probably at least a dozen more kids out there with the Harkness genes running rampant through them."

Bobby chuckled softly.

"I guess so. But he does seem pretty certain that she's just made a mistake. Maybe he's right, and he just looks like her father."

Owen paused, staring at the two vials of blood on the tray in front of him, and an idea began to form in his head. Jack would probably kill him, but once it was done...

"You're plotting something," Bobby said, watching him carefully. "What are you plotting, Dr Harper?"

Owen looked around at Bobby, and a wicked grin spread across his face.

"I'm thinking, what if I got a little mixed up? Couldn't remember whose blood is whose? Well, then we'd have to run both samples, wouldn't we? Just so I can eliminate which blood is Jack's. And if we happened to run a little comparison on the blood in the meantime..."

"You're devious," Bobby accused him, but the smile on his face took any sting out of the accusation. "And Jack is going to have our hides, you know."

The medic laughed, and rubbed his hands together in glee.

"Fantastic. Let's get to work, before our dear Captain comes back."

* * *

It took less time to get Eleya into the bath than Jack had fully expected. She seemed eager enough, and helped him and Alex out by wriggling out of her grubby clothes as fast as she could, and then clambering into the warm water. Exchanging a wry smile with Alex, Jack rolled up his sleeves and sat carefully on the edge of the tub.

"Did you ask for my help because you really needed my help," Alex asked as she handed him a bar of soap, "or just to give me an out from going shopping with Gwen and Tosh?"

Jack smiled faintly.

"A bit of both, I suppose. You didn't seem too thrilled with the idea of shopping for kid's clothes."

Alex reached out and scooped up a handful of water, which she poured carefully over Eleya's hair in preparation for washing.

"I normally wouldn't mind. Like I told you, I have a nephew, and I absolutely dote on him. I just... As much as I like Gwen, I'm just not sure I could cope with that sort of team bonding yet."

Jack laughed out loud at that.

"Team bonding, I like that. No, Alex, I actually did ask you because I thought you'd be able to help. I love kids, but I really don't have much experience with them. Definitely not in this respect, either, and the last thing I need is to be mocked by Owen because I can't bathe a little girl."

A wry smile flickered across Alex's face as she looked fondly down at Eleya.

"It's just a bath. The most that can go wrong is that you'll get soaked."

"Just what I need," Jack moaned theatrically. "Ianto angry at me for giving him more work to do."

Alex's eyebrows shot up.

"He does your laundry for you?"

The Captain eyed her with a slight frown.

"As a matter of fact, he does. Why?"

"Nothing," Alex retorted, rolling her eyes in a gesture eerily reminiscent of Ianto. "Nothing at all."

Suspicion flickered across Jack's face, mixed with a wry smile, before turning his attention back to Eleya. The dirt and grime was melting away, revealing a slightly emaciated figure with china doll features.

"You are beautiful," Alex murmured. She paused, thinking she could see subtle similarities to Jack in the child's face. The eye colour was different, but she had the same expressive eyes, and her mouth was the same, too. It took some effort not to say anything, though. Jack seemed so determined that Eleya was mistaken, and she had no wish to anger him, especially in front of the little girl. Jack, however, caught sight of the look on her face.

"What is it? What are you thinking, Alex?"

Alex chewed briefly on her lower lip as she considered what to say.

"Bobby and I have dealt with a lot of cases over the last several years where fathers found out about a son or daughter that they never knew existed. You might not like hearing it, Jack, but she might just be yours."

Jack stared down at Eleya as she splashed happily in the water. He was silent for so long that Alex began to wonder if he'd just dismissed her presence altogether. She was just about to get up and quietly leave when he spoke in a heavily subdued voice.

"I'm missing two years from my memories. There was a whole two years that were stolen from me by the Time Agency. I don't know what I did to warrant that kind of punishment... and believe me, getting your memory wiped like that was just one step below execution. Two entire years, gone. I still don't have any clue what I did in those two years, and it's what triggered the whole sequence of events that led me to this time and place. It's because of what the Time Agency did to me that I went rogue, and wound up in London in 1941, where I met the Doctor and Rose for the first time. It's because of the Agency that I eventually wound up immortal. And I do not know what I did."

"You could have fathered her in those two years," Alex murmured.

"She came through the rift. She came from the future. From my future. The language she's speaking is a hybrid of 51st century dialect and another language that I don't recognise..."

"Or remember," Alex added quietly. Jack grimaced.

"The point is, I don't know what scares me more. That I fathered her and didn't know about it... or that I fathered her and don't remember it."

Alex could hear the thinly veiled distress in his voice, but before she could do or say anything to comfort him, Eleya beat her to it. She took hold of his hand and kissed it in a sweetly childish gesture, before speaking once more in a slightly broken English.

"Love you, Dada."

Tears stung Jack's eyes, and he stroked the little girl's cheek lovingly.

"She can't be mine. I couldn't possibly have produced anything this beautiful."

"Maybe you should let Owen run a DNA comparison," Alex suggested quietly. Jack considered it before shaking his head.

"Not a good idea."

Alex blinked in astonishment.

"It's not a good idea to find out whether she really is yours or not? C'mon, Jack..."

"Can you grab the shampoo over there, Alex? The watermelon scented one."

Shaking her head, Alex got up and collected the bottle. Again, her eyebrows rose as she looked at it properly.

"Whose is this? Gwen or Tosh's?"

Jack looked slightly uncomfortable as he took the bottle from her.

"It's mine, as a matter of fact."

Alex snorted with ill-suppressed laugher, and Jack frowned with indignation.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said, trying not to laugh openly. Eleya reached back and patted Alex's hand.

"Illy."

"Illy?" Alex echoed, and then it was Jack's turn to laugh.

"She just called you silly."

Alex laughed out loud, then, and nodded in agreement.

"I suppose I am. Nothing wrong with a bit of silliness, though."

Jack smirked and turned his attention back to washing the little girl's hair. He was just in the process of rinsing the shampoo from it when Alex spoke softly.

"I think you should let Owen do the test, Jack. At least you'd know for sure, and if it turns out that she is, then we can all help you deal with it."

Jack paused in putting Eleya through a second rinsing.

"I don't know what to do about it, Alex. Part of me wants to know, and part of me doesn't."

Alex considered that for a long moment before speaking again.

"Bobby has a brother, Frank. They're estranged. Bobby's never really gotten along with him, and Frank... Well, he's a lot different to Bobby. He's a selfish bastard, basically. He has a son, though, a son that Bobby never found out about until a couple of months ago. Bobby was devastated that Frank never told him. The way Bobby saw it, it was another member of the family that he'd missed out on being able to form a relationship with because of Frank's selfishness."

"You think I should find out for sure, and not waste any more time," Jack interpreted. Alex regarded him seriously.

"If she is yours, Jack, do you really want to lose even another day?"

Jack laughed bitterly.

"If she is mine, the best thing for her would probably be to be as far away from me as possible, Alex."

"You don't mean that..."

"Yes, I do, and I can't even begin to list the reasons for it, not the least of which is that I am going to outlive her. When she's old and dying, I'll still look exactly as I do now. Do you realise how horrible that thought feels?"

"Don't use cowardice as a way out of this, Jack," Alex warned him. "If she is yours, and you do go down that path, I guarantee you'll always hate yourself for it."

He smiled, then, but it was far from a pleasant sight.

"Alex, I have so many reasons to hate myself right now that I wouldn't know where to start."

She reached over and briefly grasped his hand.

"Well, don't add this to the list."

* * *

_to be continued..._


	9. Lessons in Subterfuge

When they emerged back into the Hub with Eleya clean and bundled up in an enormous towel, Alex knew immediately that Bobby and Owen were up to something. She knew her partner too well, and saw straight through his nonchalant demeanour. Whether Jack noticed was another thing entirely, though, and Alex opted not to say anything, choosing instead to corner Bobby once Jack was out of earshot, and find out what was going on.

Oh, she had a fair idea about it, and by the look of it, so did Ianto. It was probably a good thing that Jack's attention was primarily on Eleya. Otherwise, she had no doubt that he would have quickly cottoned on to what was going on with the two men, and probably hit the roof... literally and figuratively.

He didn't notice, though, and instead headed directly for his office, with Eleya in his arms.

"I'll keep her in my office for now," Jack called back to them over his shoulder. "It's a bit warmer than out here. Send Gwen and Tosh in with the clothes as soon as they get back."

He'd barely disappeared from sight before both Ianto and Alex went to confront Bobby and Owen.

"What are you up to, Owen?" Ianto demanded to know, a threatening frown on his face. Owen looked indignant... or, at least, attempted to.

"Who says I'm up to anything? You've got a suspicious mind, Ianto, and I'm offended."

"Get off your high horse, Owen," Ianto growled. "You avoided Jack when he brought Eleya back up here. You're being deliberately sneaky. Now tell me what's going on, or I'll go straight to Jack."

Owen glanced none to subtly at Bobby, who by then was looking equally guilty.

"Bobby?" Alex asked, peering up at her partner. He tried to avoid her gaze, but she was having none of it.

"Alex..." he protested, but she cut him off.

"C'mon, Bobby. You know you can't fool me. Now tell us what's going on."

Bobby and Owen looked at each other, and Ianto groaned softly.

"Oh, you didn't..."

Owen looked awkward, but didn't hesitate to defend himself and his partner in crime.

"We need to know, Ianto. And that kid is so bloody positive that Jack is her father, there must be something behind it."

"Owen," Ianto said wearily. "Did it even occur to you... to either of you... that knowing might only end up hurting them both?"

"Either way, Jack is likely to get hurt," Bobby pointed out soberly. "But he must want to know for sure, even if he won't admit it."

Alex sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"He does want to know, and no. He's not admitting it openly. But he's scared, too."

"And if you repeat that, he'll never forgive any of you," Ianto put in dryly.

"I can understand that, though," Owen conceded. "I mean, it's a bloody awful position to be in. If she isn't his, then he has to find a way to make her understand that. If she is, he has to decide whether to keep her with him or not. And if he does keep her with him, then he has to face outliving her, just like is going to happen with all of us."

"But whatever happens, whether he knows the truth one way or another, he still has some hard decisions to make," Bobby said. Ianto nodded grimly.

"Yes, he does, and he knows it. So whatever results you get, bury them until he asks for them, because this is difficult enough for him without the added pressure from the rest of us." He grimaced a little. "Not to mention, it'll be hard enough for him when Gwen decides to start pushing the social conscience agenda."

"Maybe I should have a little word with Gwen?" Alex suggested, and Owen chuckled darkly in response.

"Trust me, it's not worth the headache. That woman is Welsh through and through, and once she gets something into her head, there's no changing her mind. All we can try to do is minimise the damage, and try to keep Jack from losing it at her."

"You really think we should bury the results?" Bobby wondered. "No matter what they are?"

"Until he asks for it?" Ianto said. "Yes. Absolutely."

"What if he doesn't ask for it?" Bobby wondered. Ianto smiled, perhaps a little sadly.

"He will. Give him time, and he will, if for no other reason than his own curiosity won't allow him to leave it alone. Sooner or later, he's going to want to know."

* * *

Jack settled Eleya on the couch, wrapped up warmly in the towel.

"Now, just be patient a little longer, and we'll have some clean clothes for you to wear."

Eleya stared up at him, her eyes shining.

"Dada."

It was said almost like a prayer of thanks, as though she was reassuring herself that he was real. Jack felt his stomach roll unpleasantly. She seemed so certain, and he couldn't help but wonder at what trauma had resulted in her mistaking him for her father, whoever he really was.

"I'm not your dada, sweetheart," he told her gently, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "But I promise you that I'll do my best to find him for you, and get you back where you belong."

He suspected she didn't understand what he'd just said, because she threw her arms around him with fresh enthusiasm and a squeal of joy. Jack felt tears sting his eyes. He stood by what he'd said to Alex. He just didn't believe he could be responsible for the creation of something so beautiful and precious.

He seated her back on the couch with the penguin stuffed toy for company. Ianto had brought both the penguin and the teddy bear back from the mall, but had taken the bear away for a thorough washing, given that it was just as filthy as Eleya had been. She seemed happy enough cuddling the toy, but her attention was unmistakably on Jack as he sat down and prepared to get some work done.

Minutes ticked by, and Jack became more distracted by the unfortunate overabundance of paperwork. It wasn't until he heard a soft thud that he looked up to find Eleya had conked out on the couch, still cuddling the penguin and tangled up in the fluffy towel. Chuckling, he went over to ensure she was okay.

Sitting on the edge of the couch, Jack reached down to brush loose strands of hair back from Eleya's face. Her hair was dark in colour, almost black, but there were slivers of silver ran through her hair that made it shine when the light hit it in just the right place. She was unlike anything he had ever come across before, in both appearance and power. He had no doubt that she was responsible for the death of the man in the mall, but instinct told him that she was no threat.

His team was right. She had done what she did... whatever that was... out of self defence and self preservation. It was that simple.

Of course, he knew of races throughout the universe that were renowned for their psychic talents. Top of that list, naturally, were the Time Lords, of which the Doctor really was now the last one. There were the Glayans, the Mendyrians, the Aarethians and the Ynterios. He had no doubt that there were other races out there, and narrowing down which race Eleya belonged to was not going to be easy.

He sighed a little, losing himself in stroking his fingers over her newly washed hair. There was something familiar about the gesture, something that lingered at the very edges of his mind – a memory that hovered just out of his reach. It was frustrating, but the harder he tried to reach for that elusive memory, it only seemed to get farther away. In the end, he gave up, acutely aware of the onset of a headache as a result of his efforts.

"Jack? Are you all right?"

Jack glanced around distractedly as Ianto entered the office.

"Bit of a headache," he mumbled, rubbing gingerly at the back of his neck.

"Here, let me," Ianto murmured, crossing over and standing behind Jack to begin massaging his neck and shoulders. Another sigh escaped Jack's lips, and he gradually began to relax under Ianto's expert ministrations.

"You are so great at this," he mumbled, relaxing back into Ianto.

"So I've been told," Ianto said with a smile. Jack uttered a brief chuckle.

"Yeah, by me."

Silence reigned for a short while before Ianto finally broke it.

"Is she all right?" he asked, peering down at the little girl over Jack's shoulder.

"I think so," Jack answered, his own gaze fixed on the child. "I think it all finally just caught up with her. Damn, Ianto, I wish we could understand her, and find out what happened to her."

"We will. Toshiko will get to work on her translation program when she and Gwen get back, and hopefully within twenty-four hours we'll be able to understand what she's saying to us."

"She expects me to understand her," Jack said sadly. "I can't explain to her why I don't."

"It's not your fault, Jack."

"Then why do I keep getting the feeling that it is?"

Ianto's hands stilled on Jack's shoulders, and then the younger man came around and crouched down in front of his lover.

"Do you feel like there's a possibility that she could be yours? Because you may not want to hear it, Jack, but it needs to be said all the same. She does actually look like you, and I think it's more than just a fluke."

Jack couldn't quite bring himself to look Ianto in the eye as he spoke heavily.

"I was telling Alex before about my two missing years."

"You mean the years that the Time Agency wiped from your memory?"

"Yes. I can't help but wonder whether maybe I fathered Eleya during that time. But at the same time..."

He trailed off, looking both confused and distressed.

"What?" Ianto pressed, hoping to get an answer, but at the same time not wanting to push Jack beyond the boundaries of what he could withstand mentally and emotionally.

"I don't know!" Jack burst out. "I feel like there's a connection here, but even if there was, look at her! She's at least three years old, Ianto. The Time Agency only took two years from my memory. I know I didn't father a child in the year or so before the missing years. She can't be mine. It's just not possible."

Ianto reached up to cup Jack's cheek, silencing his protests.

"Nothing is impossible, Jack. Just highly improbable. You, of all people, ought to understand that."

Jack looked away.

"I'm confused, Ianto," he admitted unhappily. "I don't know what to do. We have a kid here who is probably a powerful psychic, and we have no real way of identifying which race she belongs to. She thinks I'm her father, for whatever reason... And there's every possibility that there could be multiple hostiles chasing her. What the hell are we supposed to do with her?"

"I wish I had an answer for you, Jack," Ianto murmured. "All I can say is that we'll have to just take this one step at a time. Have you thought about letting Owen run a DNA comparison?"

Jack frowned slightly.

"You mean like the one he's running right at the moment?"

Ianto blanched.

"You... already know about that?"

The grimly satisfied smile that spread across Jack's face was mildly unpleasant to look at.

"I didn't for sure, until now."

"Damn," Ianto muttered. "I walked right into that one, didn't I? Are you angry?"

The smile softened just a little.

"Not really. But he should have just asked me."

"He... We didn't think you were ready to consider it," Ianto admitted. "Look, Jack, the likelihood is that it will just prove what you've been saying, that you're not her father. Once we've got that sorted, then we can look at our options for dealing with her."

Jack looked back to the child sadly.

"What the hell must she have gone through, Ianto? To traumatise her so badly that she latched onto me as her father?"

"You know, it's probably the pheromones?" Ianto mused.

"What?"

"Your pheromones," Ianto reiterated. "And I do not mean anything dirty by that, so get your mind out of the gutter, Captain. Assuming she's from the 51st century, the same as you, and assuming that her father is human, it may not only be that you look like him. You might also smell like him."

Jack laughed gruffly.

"That's just insane enough to make sense. It would explain why she latched onto me instead of you. More than just simple imprinting after all, wasn't it?"

"Without a doubt," Ianto said with a wry smile. "You and those bloody pheromones, Jack. Always knew they'd get you into trouble one day."

Jack laughed openly, and pulled Ianto to him in a fierce hug.

"I love you, Ianto. Don't ever change."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Ianto murmured, taking great pleasure in the embrace. He smiled as he felt Jack's lips on his neck, and then his jaw, and finally on his own lips. The two men were momentarily lost in the emotional kiss, until the distinct sound of giggling drew their attention away from each other. Looking around, they were none too surprised to find Eleya had woken up, and was sitting up, still wrapped up in the towel and watching them with visible delight. A smile lit up Jack's face, and he reached over to ruffle her hair affectionately.

"You didn't sleep for long, you little monkey."

Dragging the towel along with her, Eleya crawled over to them and put a hand on each of their shoulders, pushing them towards each other with a childish strength, at the same time making a loud kissing noise. Grinning, Jack pulled her in between them and launched a tickling assault, causing the child to shriek with laughter. Ianto joined in, gratified to hear the joy in the little girl's voice.

"Just look at you two, the picture of domestic bliss," a voice said from the doorway, and both men looked up to see Gwen standing there, shopping bags in hand, and Tosh close behind her, similarly loaded. Jack raised an eyebrow at the sight of their haul.

"You only needed to buy a couple of spare outfits."

"Only a couple?" Gwen retorted. "You don't know much about looking after children, if you thought that you'd only need a couple of outfits. Then there are pyjamas, underwear… Oh, all sorts of things you're going to need. And not just clothes, either."

"We bought a toothbrush and toothpaste," Tosh said cheerfully, "and bubble bath, powder, and some food that's suitable for a three year old."

Jack nodded in resignation, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Okay, okay. Thankyou, ladies. Now, if you'll leave it all there, Ianto and I will get this little lady sorted out."

Gwen came forward, though, a reproving look on her face.

"Do you think it's really appropriate for you to be changing her, Jack? Tosh and I can do it…"

She was reaching out for Eleya as she spoke, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the little girl was visibly cringing away from her, and clinging to Jack with growing distress.

"Gwen, stop," Ianto warned her. "I don't think she wants you to touch her."

"Oh, nonsense," Gwen retorted. "It's just for a few minutes. C'mon, love, you come with Aunty Gwen and Aunty Tosh, and we'll dress you up all nice and pretty. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Nai!" Eleya shrieked, and Gwen staggered back a few steps as an invisible force slammed into her, like a sudden wall of impassable air. Jack instantly wrapped his arms around her, and she curled in against him, trembling badly. Ianto eyed the little girl with a mixture of concern and curiosity before turning back to meet Gwen's shocked stare with a level gaze of his own.

"I warned you, Gwen. Now, I suggest you go before she really gets upset."

Stunned and shaken, Gwen nodded and hurried from the office without further argument. Tosh hesitated just long enough to give them an apologetic look before backing out and pulling the door closed after her. Ianto waited until they were right away from the door before turning back to observe Jack. He had his arms wrapped around Eleya, cradling her close and humming softly in an effort to soothe her.

Eleya was saying something in between heart-breaking sobs that Ianto couldn't understand, and Jack was murmuring reassurances to her.

"It's all right, baby. I know, you didn't hurt her. It's okay, I'm not mad."

"You can understand her?" Ianto asked in surprise as he rejoined them. Jack looked up at him, momentarily startled, before returning his attention to Eleya.

"I guess so. I wasn't really thinking about it… but yeah. I can understand her. I mean, I couldn't at first. It just sounded like gibberish to me, but now that I have the chance to just sit quietly with her and listen, I do understand what she's saying. I still couldn't tell you what language she's speaking… or which variation of what language… but I do actually understand her."

"What's she saying?" Ianto asked, curiosity overcoming diplomacy.

"She's apologising," Jack answered. "She keeps saying she's sorry, that she didn't mean to be bad. She said she just didn't want to be taken away again."

"Poor love," Ianto murmured as he sat down on the other side of the distraught child. "It's not your fault. Gwen had plenty of warning, and chose to ignore it."

Eleya twisted a little, looking up at Ianto with wide, watery eyes.

"Anno…"

Jack's eyebrows rose in conjunction with Ianto's when Eleya turned and wrapped her thin arms around the Welshman in a fierce hug. He quickly reciprocated it somewhat awkwardly as the towel had slipped down to leave her almost completely uncovered.

"C'mon, sweetheart," Jack said gently. "How about we get you dressed in some nice, new clothes?"

Sniffling pitifully, Eleya detached herself from Ianto and crawled off the couch, and allowed Jack to lead her over to the first of the shopping bags.

"All right, let's see what we've got here…" Jack said, emptying the first bag out onto the floor.

"That's an awful lot of pink," Ianto commented dryly. Jack grimaced.

"It had to be Gwen who picked out all of this. What about that other bag, Ianto? We could do with putting her in something a little more practical than frilly dresses."

Smiling wryly, Ianto began to remove individual articles of clothing from the second bag, rather than just dumping them out onto the floor as Jack had done. He went through three more skirts in varying shades of pink before finding a little pair of blue jeans, and a red tee-shirt with a picture of a panda bear on it.

"Now, that's more like it," Jack enthused, reaching over to take the tee-shirt and jeans from Ianto. "Are there shoes in there? Eleya, what do you think? Do you like this?"

Ianto rolled his eyes in mock exasperation as Jack skipped from one question to the next, acting much like a big kid. Eleya squealed in delight, and made a grab at the tee-shirt. Jack laughed and hooked it out of her reach.

"Uh-uh, sweetheart. Singlet first. I don't want you catching a cold. Ianto?"

Ianto handed him a singlet and pair of underpants from one of the other bags, barely hiding a smirk as he did so. Jack caught the amused look, and spoke with a touch of indignation.

"What? What's so funny?"

"You," Ianto said with a short laugh. "Don't worry, Jack, I'm not trying to make fun of you, and I didn't mean funny as in joke-funny. I just never quite pictured you as domestic as this before now."

Jack grunted.

"That's because I don't do domestic."

"And yet, you're taking to this like a natural."

Jack paused in his actions, his breath freezing in his throat as he realised the truth of Ianto's words. When he'd held up the underpants, Eleya had automatically taken hold of his shoulders to steady herself in what had seemed to be a familiar and practised gesture. He had then proceeded to dress her with an ease that was almost disturbing.

"I…" he stammered, momentarily thrown. "I… It's just dressing her, Ianto. It's hardly rocket science!"

Ianto uttered a short laugh.

"Oh, Jack, you have no idea. I have three nephews, all of whom I have babysat for at some time or other, and I can tell you right now that I would much rather face a weevil than have to get them dressed in the mornings. It might not be rocket science, but it's no less difficult. Little people have a tendency to squirm, you see, especially when they're in the company of people they're not entirely familiar with. Now, either this little girl is phenomenally well behaved – which, in itself is something of a miracle given the circumstances – or there really is a connection between the two of you that you don't know about, or don't remember."

Jack's jaw tightened slightly. So they were back to that again.

"Is there a jumper in one of these bags? I don't want her wandering around in just a tee-shirt. She'll get sick. Assuming she is from the 51st century, she's probably been inoculated against everything from Chicken Pox and Measles to Pancreatic Cancer, but they never did manage to beat the common Cold."

Ianto decided not to press the issue. Jack was still dragging his feet over deciding whether he wanted to know the results of the DNA tests Owen was running… and damn, didn't he want to be a proverbial fly on the wall when Jack hauled Owen's scrawny arse into his office to have it out with him over that little act of insubordination.

He dug into yet another bag – Gwen and Tosh must have bought up shares in the local children's wear store – and found not only a light blue fleecy lined hoodie top, but also a pair of thick socks and sneakers. He passed them to Jack, who wasted no time in getting the items onto the little girl. Once she was fully dressed, Jack drew back to look at her critically.

"Not bad," he decided finally. "We might have to exchange the pink clothes, though."

"Gwen will be disappointed," Ianto pointed out amusedly.

"Nai pink!" Eleya stated loudly, and Jack chuckled.

"She has spoken."

"She has, indeed," Ianto agreed with a grin.

Eleya was looking down at herself awkwardly, trying to see what the new clothes looked like. Still smiling broadly, Ianto took her gently by the shoulders and turned her towards the glass wall, where she was able to see her own reflection.

"There you go. See how gorgeous you look?"

Eleya stared at her reflection wonderingly for nearly a minute before spinning around and hugging Ianto ferociously. Before he had a chance to recover from the surprise tackle, Eleya had already let go of him and charged over to Jack, launching herself into his waiting arms.

"Dada," she said happily, locking her arms around his neck. Jack winced just a little, dreading the coming disappointment when he would have to try and explain to her that he was not her daddy. Maybe, by then, they will have found her real father, and it would work out all right for everyone. And yet, he felt an odd twinge of unhappiness and jealousy at the thought of her calling someone else 'Dada'.

"All right," Jack said, standing up and lifting her with him. "Let's go out and see the others, and talk about what we're going to do with you, little monkey."

* * *

The rest of the team was already assembled in the boardroom, waiting on Jack and Ianto to arrive with Eleya. While Tosh and Alex both grinned at the adorable sight of the little girl in Jack's arms, Gwen frowned just slightly.

"I thought you might have put one of the dresses on her."

"They're all very lovely, Gwen," Ianto said in an effort to appease her, "but not terribly practical for the Hub."

"Well, I suppose that's fair enough," Gwen conceded, if somewhat reluctantly. Jack walked around and took his seat at the head of the table, settling Eleya carefully on his lap. She curled in against him, thin arms clutching him around his chest, and watching the rest of them through a mop of silvery black hair.

"We need to decide what to do about this little one."

Gwen was on her feet so fast that it left all their heads spinning.

"I have a suggestion about that, Jack."

"Here we go," Ianto muttered in a low enough voice that only Jack was able to hear. Jack resisted the urge to react, and instead kept his eyes carefully trained on her.

"What suggestion do you have, Gwen?"

"Well, I've spoken to Rhys, and he agreed that we could take her in for the time being."

Jack's eyebrows shot up.

"We? As in, you and he?"

"Well, yes. The Hub is no place for a child, Jack."

"I'm fully aware of that, Gwen," Jack said in a deceptively calm voice, "and I had no intention of keeping her down here. What I want to know is what makes you think that you're the right person to take care of her?"

Gwen blinked at him in surprise, as though she honestly hadn't expected him to argue with her.

"Well… Rhys and I have babysat loads of times for our nieces and nephews… and you know we'll be thinking about starting a family when we get married…"

"So you thought you'd practise on Eleya."

Gwen had the decency to look abashed, but nor did she back down.

"Jack, do you really think it's a good idea for you to be looking after her? Think about it for a moment. She thinks that you're her father. Do you really think you should be encouraging that?"

Jack's expression altered fractionally, and he looked down at Eleya with a fresh hint of uncertainty. Ianto saw it, and felt a rush of anger towards Gwen. Before he could speak up to defend his lover, though, Bobby beat him to it.

"Actually, I think it would do more harm to Eleya to separate her from Jack. She's a scared little girl, and she needs security and comfort."

Gwen opened her mouth to protest that she and Rhys could easily provide that, but again Bobby beat her to the punch.

"Regardless of who her father really is, she's obviously already been separated from him once in what I'd guess were particularly traumatic circumstances. Taking her away from Jack now, no matter what the reason, would only result in traumatising her all over again."

"Not to mention," Owen piped up, "that kid is capable of seriously kicking arse, and we've seen what can happen when she's upset or frightened."

"Very eloquent, Owen," Ianto said dryly. "You are right, though. And Gwen, you know what happened when you tried to take her away from Jack just to get her dressed. How do you think she's going to react if you try to take her away from him completely?"

By then, Gwen was starting to look distinctly uncomfortable.

"I wasn't talking permanently," she protested. "I just thought maybe for nighttimes, and a bit of time during the day! And besides, once we find out where she's from, we can get her home again, and that'll be the end of it. Won't it?"

Jack glanced fleetingly at Bobby and Alex, and though he said nothing, they were able to read the look in his eyes all too well. It clearly said 'see what I mean?' And from the looks on their faces, they did.

"Gwen," Jack said in a quiet voice, but she cut in over the top of him once more.

"Jack, it isn't healthy for you to be looking after her! Surely you can see that? Please, I'm just trying to do what's best for both you and Eleya!"

The tension in Jack's expression faded a little at her sincere tone, and he nodded.

"I know, Gwen, and I appreciate it. But the answer is no. I can't allow you and Rhys to take Eleya, for your sakes as well as hers. It isn't about emotional attachment, it's about ensuring everyone's safety. Ours, Eleya's and the public's. Things happen when this little girl gets upset and frightened, so my priority is making sure she doesn't get upset or frightened. And it seems the best way to do that is to keep her with me."

For several long, tense seconds, it seemed that Gwen was gearing herself up to keep arguing with Jack. Abruptly, though, she gave up and backed down, sitting back in her seat with a thud. Jack nodded, quietly relieved to have won that argument – even if he suspected she wasn't quite finished with him over it yet. For now, though, he had the upper hand.

"All right, moving on. Owen, the tests you and Bobby are running. When will you have the results?"

"Should have most of them by this afternoon," Owen confirmed. Jack looked from one man to the other piercingly.

"And does that include the DNA comparison that you're running on the blood samples you took from both Eleya and me?"

For nearly a minute, Owen achieved a remarkably good impression of a guppy. Bobby, however, recovered from the surprise somewhat faster and answered with a single nod, opting for honesty.

"That will take a little longer. The results should be ready early tomorrow morning."

Jack was slightly mollified by Bobby's honesty. But only slightly.

"Fine. And next time, ask me first." He ran his hand gently over Eleya's hair, and she hummed contentedly into his chest. "I guess that's all we can do for now."

"So what now?" Alex wondered. "Business as usual?"

Jack smiled faintly.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm hungry. Ianto...?"

"I'll order in breakfast," Ianto offered, and Jack smiled in gratitude.

"Great. Thankyou. Now, everyone, back to work. Gwen, I want you to go through protocols and procedures with Alex. Tosh? Would you be able to take Eleya for a few minutes? I need to have a little chat with Bobby and Owen."

The two men exchanged rueful looks, and promptly sat back down again. Tosh smiled and walked over to the Captain.

"If she'll come with me." She leaned over a little so that she was closer to eye level with the little girl. "Eleya? Would you like to come and help me for a few minutes?"

Eleya stared at Tosh thoughtfully before looking back up at Jack.

"Dada?"

"It's okay," he assured her. "Go with Aunty Tosh so I can talk to Uncle Bobby and Uncle Owen."

Seemingly reassured, Eleya extracted herself from Jack's embrace and slid to the floor. She took Tosh's hand and allowed the young woman to lead her from the boardroom.

"Oh, that isn't half gonna piss off Gwen," Owen retorted with a short laugh once they were gone. Jack couldn't resist a small smile, knowing full well that Owen was right. It would piss off Gwen to see that Eleya had willingly gone with Toshiko. Then, he reminded himself of why he had held back his medic, and one of his newest recruits, and the smile slid off his face.

"I just want to know the answer to one question," he told them coolly. "Why?"

It was Bobby who spoke and, showing that he'd learnt his lesson, he did not offer an apology.

"It seemed the logical thing to do, Jack. Eleya really does believe that you're her father, and the truth is that there is a resemblance..."

"Just a coincidence," Jack said dismissively. Bobby nodded.

"So you say. In which case, wouldn't you prefer to know for certain, and have all doubt eliminated?"

Jack looked piercingly from Bobby to Owen.

"That's the only reason? You didn't do it to satisfy your own curiosity?"

Both men looked mildly uncomfortable, and this time it was Owen's turn to confess.

"Of course we're bloody curious, Jack. We're human aren't we? But that doesn't automatically mean that we weren't considering you first. I'm still a doctor above and beyond everything else, and you ought to know I wouldn't let anyone else see the results ahead of you, so quit acting like such a bloody prat."

For all of about ten seconds, Jack's face looked positively thunderous. But then, the anger melted away and he sighed and nodded.

"You're right, and I'm sorry. This whole situation just has me on edge. But please, both of you – next time, come and ask me first. Don't go behind my back."

They murmured assent and, at Jack's waved dismissal, got up to leave.

"By the way," Owen asked, turning back at the door to look at Jack. "Just how did you know, anyway? Did Ianto spill the beans?"

"Owen," Jack said chidingly, as though he was speaking to a child, "this is you we're talking about. I would have been surprised if you hadn't done it. Now go. Get back to work."

Again exchanging wry looks, the two men exited the office to go back to work. Jack watched them go, unsure whether to be amused or annoyed. He was going to have to be careful. The last thing he needed was for Bobby to be influenced by Owen, and any hopes he had that it might be the other way around were slim at the very best. Owen was far too stubborn to ever change.

He was still smiling wryly to himself when Ianto came back into the boardroom.

"Something amusing? Ianto queried. Jack shook his head.

"Not really. Food ordered?"

"Should be here in half an hour. I noticed you appear to have left Owen and Bobby relatively intact."

"I was feeling merciful."

Ianto snorted derisively.

"Of course you were. Eleya also seems quite happy with Tosh, although Gwen doesn't seem terribly impressed."

"Gwen's problem is that she doesn't understand the concept of subtle. Eleya will warm up to her, but she can't expect it to happen instantly. I think Eleya trusts Tosh because Tosh was there with you when you found her."

Ianto nodded slowly.

"That does make sense. Jack..."

"What is it, Ianto?"

"Well, I was wondering... and please don't bite my head off for saying it, but I think it does need to be said. You're so certain that you aren't Eleya's father, but what if you are? Have you thought about what you'll do then?"

A haunted look flickered oh so briefly across Jack's face, and then it was gone.

"You mean besides ret-conning her and sending her as far away as possible?"

"I don't believe you mean that," Ianto admonished him softly. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Are you so sure about that?"

Ianto sighed audibly.

"Yes, I am, and I'll tell you why."

Jack sat back in his seat and watched Ianto in mild amusement.

"Go ahead. I'm waiting."

"Because I know you, Jack, and I know how important family is to you. If… If by some chance she does turn out to be yours, then I can't see you sending her away, especially considering what she appears to be capable of. And if she is as highly psychic as we suspect, then you know damn well that ret-con is not going to work on her."

"It doesn't matter, Ianto. She's not mine. She can't be mine. It isn't possible, or probable."

Ianto walked around and pulled a chair around close to Jack, taking the other man's hands in his own.

"What are you really worried about? Talk to me, Jack."

Jack stared down at their linked hands, feeling just a little bit frightened and a little bit sick.

"I have this blank spot in my life," he admitted finally. "Two whole years, Ianto. It terrifies me to think about it, because I know how much can happen in two years."

"And this whole mystery with Eleya has just brought all of that insecurity to the surface again, hasn't it?" Ianto murmured, leaning in close to press a tender kiss to the top of Jack's head.

"What scares me is how close I feel to that little girl out there. It's only been a few hours, but I already love her like she was mine. How is that even possible?"

"She loves you, and trusts you completely, Jack," Ianto told him gently. "You'd have to be utterly heartless not to respond to that." Ianto paused, staring at Jack's bowed head in sudden shocked realisation. "You're not scared that Eleya will turn out to be your daughter. You're scared that she won't."

Jack looked up at Ianto slowly, and though he wasn't actually in tears, Ianto suspected that he wasn't too far off it.

"Either way, I don't know what to do."

Ianto pulled Jack into his embrace, then, hugging him close.

"We'll work it out together, when we have to."

* * *

Kathy Swanson sat at her desk in her office, turning the strange leather strap over and over in her hands. She had no idea what it was, or what it did. In fact, all she knew was that the only other one like it that she'd ever seen was strapped to the wrist of Captain Jack Harkness.

Instinct told her not to mess with it, that it was no toy and God only knew what might happen if she started playing around with it. Curiosity was a powerful influence, though, and it didn't take much to give in and flip open the leather cover.

Her breath escaped in a rush as she found herself staring at what looked very much like a miniature computer. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before, and that little voice that had previously whispered at her to leave it alone began to shout. Again, curiosity won out, and she ran her fingers over the surface of the gadget, feeling the tiny buttons and sleek, cool metal with a growing sense of wonder.

Was this what Jack Harkness wore all the time? If it was... and she whole-heartedly believed that it was... then what was it, and where the hell did he get one from?

Someone shouted out from across the other side of the room, startling her out of her reverie. She sat up sharply and her fingers, still resting against the silvery metal panel, bumped one of the tiny buttons. She quickly closed the cover of the strap as one of her colleagues headed towards her desk, unaware of the tiny blue light that had begun to flash steadily on the panel.

Dropping the strap on her desk, she rose out of her chair to greet her colleague, the strange device already relegated to the back of her mind for the time being. And all the while, it continued to beep softly, like a beacon signalling to an unknown destination.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	10. Making Decisions

The rest of the day, by comparison, was relatively quiet. Eleya spent the bulk of the morning playing quietly with her toys on the floor of Jack's office, content simply to be in close proximity to him. The few times that Jack ventured from his office, she insisted on tagging along, refusing to let him out of her sight. It was an adorable sight, to watch the enigmatic Captain moving around the Hub, with a child no taller than his knee following close behind.

Jack, for his part, seemed to be trying to ignore the soppy smiles being directed at him from the female contingent of his staff. Even Alex, whom he had thought might have been immune to said soppiness, was caught smiling wistfully in his direction more than once. Bobby and Ianto took the situation in their strides, and Bobby was rapidly joining Ianto in Eleya's apparent estimation of him as a 'good' person. She'd been frightened of his size to begin with, but had gotten over that quickly enough when she discovered that he was more than willing to exchange silly faces with her.

Owen was the only hold-out, and in the end Jack deliberately avoided the autopsy bay altogether. While he wouldn't have said that Eleya disliked the medic, nor did she appear to be terribly impressed with him. Ianto remarked later that it was probably more to do with Owen's ongoing snide remarks every time Jack came within sight, than any personal issues. It made sense to Jack. She'd attached herself to him, and therefore Owen's ongoing attempts to annoy him were probably causing Eleya's aggravated reaction to him.

So, in the end, Jack steered clear of Owen. It warmed him, though, to think that the little girl was so protective of him.

At lunch time, Ianto took Eleya out of the Hub with him to get food for the team, and came back not only with a load of fish and chips, but also with a bag filled with colouring books, pencils and some simple puzzles. Jack could have kissed him for his thoughtfulness and after lunch was over, did exactly that in the cubby hole beneath his office whilst Eleya was happily colouring in at his desk.

"We really do need to get back up there," Ianto murmured, trying with some reluctance to disengage himself from Jack's persistent lips. "She shouldn't be... Fuck, Jack... Shouldn't be left alone..."

Jack withdrew his assault on his lover's neck, only to reattach his mouth to Ianto's ear.

"She's fine. We've got a few minutes."

Grunting, Ianto had to physically push Jack away from him.

"Stop, Jack, please. I know you too well, there is no way you're going to take just a few minutes."

Jack pouted, but pulled back regardless.

"Spoilsport."

Ianto smirked as he readjusted his shirt and tie.

"Just be patient, cariad. When we get home tonight, and we have Eleya settled, you can do whatever you like with me, and I won't object, I promise. But for now, try to show a little decorum? Please?"

Jack sighed theatrically, but conceded nonetheless.

"Fine. So... You're okay with bringing Eleya back to your place with us?"

"It's our place," Ianto admonished him gently, "and yes. I'm fine with it. As it's already been pointed out today... more than once, as a matter of fact... we can't keep her in the Hub indefinitely. And as you pointed out, she's at her calmest when she's close to you, so it makes sense that she come home with us. Besides, I really don't want to give Gwen anymore ammunition. She's still chomping at the bit over the dressing down you gave her at the meeting this morning."

Jack couldn't quite hide a grin.

"She is, isn't she? And is it wrong that that makes me smile?"

Ianto didn't even try to conceal his own smile.

"We all love Gwen, Jack, but every so often she needs taking down a peg or two. This was definitely one of those times. Personally, I was insulted at the inference that she was the only one qualified to look after a small child. I have as much experience as she does... and then there's Alex. I'm sure she's looked after her nephew plenty of times. Even Bobby would be a good choice. Eleya has certainly taken to him. But no, Gwen was in her usual blinkered mode. Couldn't see the forest for the trees."

"Not to mention she completely ignored Eleya's reaction when she tried to take her to get her dressed," Jack mused. Ianto nodded.

"Exactly. That little girl doesn't want to be anywhere that you're not, Jack, and Gwen needs to accept that. So, yes. She is coming home with us tonight. We can have spaghetti, ice cream, and maybe watch some Disney together, and then we can put her to bed, and when she's asleep..."

Jack sidled up close to Ianto once more and brushed his lips temptingly over his lover's.

"I'm going to hold you to that, Mr Jones."

"I expect you to, Captain Harkness."

Grinning, Jack swung around Ianto and hauled himself up the ladder, with the younger man close behind. When they emerged into the office, it was to find Eleya no longer colouring in, but holding the strange box that had come through the rift just the day before. Glancing worriedly at Ianto, Jack approached the desk slowly. Eleya, who had been stroking the box lightly with her fingers, looked up at Jack and giggled cheekily.

"Dada and Anno mwah."

She made a loud kissing noise, leaving no misconceptions about her understanding of just what had been going on in the room below her. Ianto rolled his eyes.

"She's a mini-you. Wonderful."

Jack snorted with ill-suppressed laughter, which he quickly tried to smother, and instead turned his focus to the little girl, and the box that her hands were resting on. Despite his wholehearted belief that the box was harmless, he quietly cursed himself for breaking protocol, and leaving it out for her to so easily find.

"Eleya, baby, what are you doing with that?"

"Ma," Eleya stated firmly, lifting the box up into the air. She paused, frowning, and then tried again. "Mine."

"Jack..." Ianto murmured in sudden wonder. Jack nodded.

"I know. Baby, what do you mean, that's yours?"

She sat the box down on the desk again, and ran her fingers over the lid once more. There was a loud click, and the lid suddenly disengaged itself and slid off.

"It really is hers," Ianto whispered. Jack ventured forward, both intrigued and eager to see just what was in the box. Eleya dipped her hand in, and lifted out a beautiful pendant of green and silver crystal, shaped like a teardrop. She held it with a reverence and care that belied her young age. Jack glanced over her hands, but it appeared that was the only thing within the box.

"That's beautiful, Eleya," Ianto said softly, entranced by the necklace. "Did your mother perhaps give that to you?"

Eleya looked up at Ianto, puzzled.

"Nai Mama. Dada."

"No mother?" Ianto asked. He looked across to Jack quizzically. "Do you think that she doesn't know who her mother is?"

"It's possible," Jack conceded. "If her mother is dead... or maybe there's another reason. I really don't know."

"Well, whatever it is, she seems to think her father gave her the pendant."

Jack grimaced, knowing what Ianto was saying, without him actually saying it. In saying that her father had given it to her, Ianto was in fact saying that Jack had given it to her. After a moment's consideration, he decided to take the best option available, and studiously ignored the inference. Instead, he reached out to take the pendant from Eleya for a closer look. As his palm closed around the tear drop shaped gem, though, a shockwave passed through him and his head rocked backwards with a violent jerk.

"Jack? Jack!"

He heard Ianto shout his name, and he could hear Eleya screaming, but his body and mind were frozen. He couldn't respond, couldn't move, couldn't do a damned thing to help himself or to reassure them. Images flew through his mind at the speed of light, blinding him to all else. They were images that he didn't understand, didn't recognise or remember. They were memories, he was positive of that much. The memories, though, were alien to him. He didn't know where they were coming from, and he could only assume that they were memories that had been locked inside the pendant itself.

The stream of images finally began to abate, easing the unbearable pressure in his head. Then, as they faded away entirely, he finally loosened his grip on the pendant, and his body crumpled, darkness overtaking him.

* * *

"Jack!" Ianto cried out again, catching his lover as he collapsed, and dragging him over to the couch. The door literally exploded inwards as Owen ran in, alerted by Ianto's shouts and Eleya's terrified screams. He was followed closely by Bobby, Gwen, Tosh and Alex, all of them crowding into the office to see what had happened.

"What the fuck is going on here?" he demanded, pushing Ianto away in order to get close enough to Jack to look him over.

"He just collapsed," Ianto said in a strained voice that was heavy with borderline panic. His arms closed around Eleya automatically as she ran to him and buried her face in his shoulder. "Something about the necklace... He went rigid for about twenty seconds, and then he just collapsed."

Owen looked around at him sharply.

"What do you mean, something about the necklace? What bloody necklace?"

Bobby reached out to the necklace that now lay on Jack's desk. He refrained from touching it, though.

"This necklace?"

Ianto nodded. It was so damned hard to think straight when Jack was lying there, unconscious and apparently helpless.

"Yes, that's the one. It came out of the box."

Owen paused, his fingers pressed against Jack's throat, and looked back at Ianto with a deep frown.

"The box? As in, the box that we found in the sewers yesterday? The one that came through the rift?"

"Yes, the one that came through the bloody rift!" Ianto snapped. "And yes, Jack broke protocol and didn't secure it. And yes, I'll have it out with him later on, but will you please just make sure he's okay now?"

Shaking his head, Owen returned his attention to the Captain, checking his pulse, blood pressure and ocular responses before leaning back.

"He's fine, he's just unconscious."

"Are you sure?" Gwen asked anxiously, causing Owen to roll his eyes in exasperation.

"Yes, I'm positive. There is nothing wrong with him, except for a mild case of shock. Whatever that necklace did to him, it wasn't permanent. Not that anything is where he's concerned, right? And anyway, if we had to, we could just..."

"Don't," Ianto snapped. "Don't you dare say it, Owen. You are not shooting him. Not again."

Bobby looked up in shock from where he was examining the necklace.

"Again? You shot Jack?"

"Long story," Owen muttered. He really did not want to open up that particular old wound again. "Look, he's going to be fine, but you need to get that necklace secured, before it does a number on anyone else."

"Eleya seems to think it belongs to her," Ianto murmured quietly. Owen snorted as he got to his feet.

"Eleya thinks Jack is her daddy. The kid is a little on the mixed-up side."

"She opened the box, Owen."

Owen paused, blinking in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. The box with the psychic lock that Jack said only the owner could get open. She opened it."

"Well, shit," Owen muttered.

Bobby finally acted when neither Ianto nor Owen did. Using a pen from Jack's desk, he carefully snagged the necklace and lifted it off the desk, and then dropped it back into the box. He then placed the lid back on loosely before picking the entire thing up.

"So what do we do with this, then?"

Tosh stepped carefully past Gwen, and held her hands out to Bobby.

"Give it to me, Bobby. I'll take it for analysis."

"Ma!" Eleya burst out suddenly from where Ianto still held her in his arms. Bobby smiled reassuringly at her.

"I know it's yours, sweetheart. Tosh is just going to have a look at it, and see if there's any reason why it made Dada collapse. Okay?"

Eleya stared from him to Tosh for a long moment before nodding slowly. None of them were entirely sure whether she did actually understand what Bobby had just said, but she made no further protests when Tosh carried the box from the room.

"What about Jack?" Ianto asked softly. Owen shrugged slightly.

"Nothing to do now except wait for him to wake up, and hope that he can explain what the hell just happened." He looked around at Gwen and Alex, who were still hovering in concern. "You can go back to what you were doing. No point in all of us crowding in here, waiting for him to wake up. It might be any minute, but then it might not be for hours, yet."

"C'mon," Alex said to Gwen, taking the other woman by the arm and ushering her from the office, despite her protests. "Let's get back to work. There's nothing we can do here, expect be pains in the ass."

"You really hit the jackpot with your partner, Bobby," Owen said wryly once the women were gone. Bobby chuckled softly, and the sound of full of warmth for his long-time partner.

"Thanks, Owen. I know. She's fantastic, in more ways than one."

Smiling, Owen returned his attention to Jack, only to be brought up short by an aggravated Ianto.

"What is it?" Owen asked, frowning again.

"I don't like waiting," Ianto complained, and Owen uttered a short laugh.

"Join the queue, mate. You don't have a choice, though. Jack'll wake up when he's good and ready. Not before. I just hope it'll be sooner, rather than later." He paused, eyeing Ianto critically. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Ianto murmured dismissively. He knew full well that Owen wasn't asking about his mental or emotional state of mind. "Whatever happened to Jack, it was completely isolated. He was the only one affected."

Owen, however, frowned as he looked down at Eleya's tear-streaked face.

"Maybe not. Eleya?"

The little girl looked up at Owen's slowly, her reddened eyes wide.

"What happened to Dada, kiddo?" Owen asked, his voice surprisingly gentle. "Do you know?"

"Bad," Eleya whispered. Her little hands clutched Ianto's shirt tightly. "Bad men. Dada gone."

"It's what she said back at the mall, when I first found her," Ianto explained at Owen's puzzled expression. "I don't really know what it means. I certainly don't understand how the necklace relates to it all."

"The box had a psychic lock on it," Bobby mused. "Is it that far-fetched to think that there was some similar defence mechanism on the necklace?"

"As in, someone who doesn't own it touches it, and it gives them a kind of psychic shock?" Owen wondered, and Bobby nodded.

"Something like that."

"It's possible," Ianto conceded. "I wonder, though..."

"What are you thinking?" Owen asked, watching Ianto piercingly. Ianto, however, shook his head dismissively.

"Nothing. Look, we're not going to know what happened until Jack wakes up. Hopefully it won't be too long before he does. In the meantime..."

He grimaced a little as he got to his feet, and lifted Eleya up with him. Then, he sat down carefully on the couch beside Jack's feet, with Eleya in his lap.

"How are your tests going?"

"Well, actually," Owen remarked dryly, "that's what we were coming up here about when you and Eleya screamed.

Irritation flashed across Ianto's face at Owen's blithe assessment.

"I did not scream."

"Oh, yes you did," Owen shot back. "You screamed just like a little girl. Eleya can be forgiven for that because... well, she is a little girl. You, on the other hand, are not, and it is totally unbecoming to shriek like that."

"Ignore him, Ianto," Bobby interrupted bluntly. "And in answer to the question that he hasn't given you a chance to ask yet, no. The DNA comparison hasn't finished running yet. It probably won't be ready until about three tomorrow morning. We have some other results, though. Particularly about Eleya, and whether she is or isn't human."

"And?" Ianto pressed in concern. "Is she?"

He knew, by rights, that he should have waited for Jack to wake up again, but the truth was he already suspected that there was something not entirely human about Eleya, and he needed to confirm that suspicion.

"She's half human," Owen confirmed. "Half alien. You would never know unless you tested her DNA, but she is only half human."

"The half that's alien," Ianto said softly. "Do you have any idea which race she's from?"

"No," Owen admitted. "I'm afraid I don't. Her DNA seems to be unique, and we don't seem to have record of anything even remotely similar in our database."

"I'll have to go through the archives," Ianto said ruefully.

"We could always call the Doctor," Bobby suggested quietly. Ianto tensed very slightly.

"No, we want to avoid that, if we can. Jack didn't want to have to call him unless there was no other choice. I have to agree with him. I think we should try to sort this out ourselves."

Owen laughed, then.

"I know why you don't want to call him. You have a vested interest in the bloke not turning up, because when the Doctor shows up, that usually results in Jack doing a disappearing act."

"As a matter of fact, Owen," Ianto snapped, "that has nothing to do with it. This little girl, however, does."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, think about it, Owen. What if, by some slim stretch of the imagination, she really does turn out to be his daughter? Do we really want the Doctor here, lecturing us all about creating a paradox, and then insisting that he take Eleya back to wherever it is that she's from? Now, I don't know how Jack really feels about her calling him Dada, but a blind man could see how much he already loves her. Just how devastated do you think he would be to lose her like that?"

Owen nodded slowly, acknowledging that Ianto was right in his estimate. As much as he liked to think the Doctor would help, there was too much of a chance that his presence might only prove to be a hindrance.

"Okay," he conceded finally. "No Doctor. We'll do it the old fashioned way. Uh... Tell me, are you still planning on taking Eleya home with you tonight?"

"Yes," Ianto stated categorically. "She's not staying in the Hub, and I don't believe anyone else could handle her for an entire night. Not to mention what she'd do when separated from Jack. Why do you want to know?"

"Just wanted to be sure about what was happening," Owen assured him. "And just to warn you that Gwen is still operating under the mistaken belief that Eleya would be better off with her and Rhys. This... whatever it was that just happened... won't have helped that issue along at all."

Ianto sighed.

"Why does that not surprise me? All right, Owen. Thankyou. You can leave us be, now."

Owen nodded, and got back up.

"All right, mate. And like I said, Jack should be fine. But if, by some chance, he's not..."

"I'll call you," Ianto reassured him.

"Thankyou," Owen said gratefully before slipping out with Bobby, and leaving Ianto and Eleya with the sleeping Captain.

"What happened to him, Eleya?" Ianto wondered softly. "Do you know, sweetheart?"

Eleya reached out to stroke Jack's cheek lovingly.

"Dada sleep."

Ianto sighed inwardly. He was too tired and too stressed to bother playing word games. If she was so determined that Jack was her father, then who was he to contradict her?

"Yes," he murmured, hugging her close. "Dada sleep."

* * *

Coming back to life was always traumatic. No matter what the cause of death — whether it involved fire, torture, or something ridiculously simple like tripping in front of a bus — he always experienced a near violent resurrection as a result of dying. So, when his eyes fluttered open, and he felt consciousness returning gradually, he knew he hadn't died.

As he felt the gradual onset of a blinding headache, he knew beyond a doubt that he hadn't died, because he usually resurrected with pain all through his body and gradually fading as the minutes ticked by — not the other way around. He figured that something dramatic must have happened to firstly knock him out, and secondly to leave a residue sensation like this. He felt like he'd had one... or maybe five... hyper-vodkas too many. Not that that would have been the first time, either, but it didn't mean he felt the effects any less profoundly.

With some degree of effort, he forced his eyes open, and he was relieved to find himself staring up at the ceiling of his office, and not the autopsy bay.

"Jack?"

The voice cut carefully through his slightly shaky train of thought, and he felt a rush of relief at the sound of it.

"Ianto?"

At least he had meant to say his lover's name. What came out, though, was a garbled mess as he tried in vain to regain control of his tongue. A hand alighted on his forehead, stroking soothingly to reassure him.

"It's me. Try and relax for a minute.

Relax was not a word common to Jack's vocabulary, though, and he grunted softly with effort as he struggled to push himself up into a sitting position.

"What happened...?"

He forced his eyes into focusing, and found Ianto there in front of him, watching in quiet concern.

"You don't remember?"

Jack shut his eyes, drawing in long, steadying breaths as he tried to recall the moments before he'd lost consciousness. It was just a blur, though, a blur of half-clear memories and emotions. Slowly, he shook his head, rubbing a hand gingerly over his eyes.

"No... No, I don't remember anything. It's just a blur. I don't remember anything after reaching out to take the pendant... Eleya! Where is she?"

"She's fine," Ianto reassured him. "Bobby took her out to get her something to drink. I think that after the initial shock, she was less worried about you than the rest of us put together. Jack, are you sure you don't remember anything?"

"Not clearly, no. Why? What happened?"

"Well, you reached out and took the pendant... and then you just froze."

"Froze?" Jack echoed, still rubbing at his eyes and temples. "What do you mean, I froze?"

"I mean you just went rigid, like... Oh, I don't know. It looked like you were remembering something, Jack."

Jack thought about it for a long moment before shaking his head again.

"Nothing. There's nothing."

Ianto watched him silently before reaching up to gently pry Jack's hands away from his face.

"Headache?"

"Yeah," Jack admitted softly. "Bad one."

Within moments, Ianto had made his decision.

"C'mon, cariad, on your feet. We'll get Owen to check you over, give you something for the pain, and then I'm taking you and Eleya home."

It was a testament to how poorly Jack was feeling that he never argued with his young lover, and instead allowed himself to be shepherded out of the office.

* * *

All eyes turned to them when they emerged from the office, but the only one to move was Eleya, who thrust a now empty cup into Bobby's hands and toddled over to Jack. Lacking much of her earlier exuberance, she approached and reached up to grasp his hand in her own.

"Dada sore. Head ouch."

"How can she know that, Jack?" Ianto asked softly. Jack shook his head, and instantly regretted the movement, and fresh pain flared through his skull.

"I don't know. Maybe she's empathic."

"Or maybe she's connected to you," Ianto suggested lightly. Jack chose not to respond to Ianto's speculation.

"Where's Owen? The sooner we can get home, the better."

It was with some effort that Ianto avoided rolling his eyes.

"This way. C'mon."

* * *

Jack very quickly decided that he was not going to question where Ianto found the child seat to put in his car for Eleya. Instead, he stood back and watched with a small smile as Ianto lifted the little girl into the seat and strapped her in, all the while talking cheerfully to her. She seemed utterly taken with him, watching the young Welshman with bright eyes and an equally bright smile, and when he'd finished getting her strapped into the seat, she responded by planting a loud, wet kiss on his nose.

Ianto pulled back, bemused and not sure whether to laugh or not. When he turned to find Jack grinning at him, he opted for the former, and smiled self-deprecatingly at the Captain.

"She loves you," Jack murmured, watching Ianto with affection.

"Yes, well, she does seem to be quite smart," Ianto remarked, straightening his tie. Jack edged forward, and claimed Ianto's lips in a lingering kiss. Ianto reciprocated for a few blissful seconds before gently withdrawing.

"Not now, Jack. I want to get you home so you can rest. You look like you're about to collapse, again."

"Home," Eleya piped up behind them and, as though she knew how badly Jack's head was hurting, she kept her voice soft. Ianto smiled back at her.

"That's right, baby. Home."

Ianto guided Jack into the passenger seat, and then climbed in behind the wheel. He paused, looking from Jack to Eleya, and was momentarily taken by an oddly warm feeling of domesticity. With Eleya there, it almost felt like they were a family, and that in itself was not such a foreign concept. He couldn't resist the small smile that crept onto his face as he guided the car out of the Torchwood garage, to take his lover and their little guest home.

* * *

"You're both shameless, you know that, don't you?"

Gwen and Toshiko both looked around in surprise, and then smiled at the sight of Alex standing there, watching them with mock disapproval.

"Absolutely," Gwen confirmed cheerfully.

"C'mon, Alex," Tosh said. "You have to admit, they look so perfect together."

Alex peered over their shoulders to look at the computer monitor, which showed footage of the garage. Jack and Ianto were engaged in a prolonged kiss whilst, in the background, Alex could see Eleya watching with a beatific smile on her little face.

"I'm not arguing with that," she admitted, "but do you need to watch them all the time?"

"Not all the time," Gwen said, sounding mildly chastened. "Just..."

"Most of the time," Owen cut in as he passed by. "Admit it, ladies. You have a fetish. And the irony is that if they asked, Jack would probably be more than happy to give them a live show."

"Ianto, on the other hand, would probably kill him before he could oblige," Tosh concluded.

Bobby joined them, watching Owen, Tosh and Gwen amusedly.

"Is this what you get up to when Jack is away? Gossip about his and Ianto's sex life?"

"Among other things," Gwen said with a scandalised look.

"Yeah," Owen snorted. "We do get work done sometimes, too."

"We need to be able to joke around and have a laugh," Gwen insisted. "This isn't an easy job, and it's easy to be overwhelmed. Don't knock the times when we can relax and enjoy ourselves, because they don't come all that often."

Alex chuckled and shook her head.

"Sorry. Just can't help wondering how Jack might feel about his sex life being used as a central joke to lighten the mood."

"If he were here," Owen stated firmly, "he'd be the one making the most jokes. Trust us on that. The man has no shame at all."

"Yeah," Bobby agreed with a smile. "We got that. We're still trying to figure out how Ianto puts up with him."

"You and us both," Gwen said. "That boy has the patience of a saint, honestly."

"So what now?" Alex asked, deciding it was time to move the topic of conversation forward. "Is there anything more we can do until the rest of the test results come in? Or is it just a waiting game?"

"Just a waiting game, now," Owen confirmed. "We know that Eleya is half human, half alien, but we don't know what species of alien. Odds are, we may never know. I think the kid is too little to be able to give us any real clue, and Ianto doesn't want us to contact the Doctor, so that avenue is out."

"Why not?" Gwen wondered, baffled. "I would have thought the Doctor was the best way to find out the truth about Eleya."

"Too many 'ifs'," Bobby said quietly after exchanging a knowing look with Owen. "We really need to wait and see what the results of all the tests are before we make a decision like that. And really, it ought to be up to Jack and Ianto whether they want to contact him or not."

Gwen frowned.

"I would have thought sooner was better than later. It isn't healthy, the way Jack is becoming so attached to that little girl... and vice-versa. She really does think he's her father!"

"We all noticed, Gwen," Tosh said in a tone that was simultaneously placating and warning. "Have you considered that maybe she's not mistaken?"

Gwen made a derisive sound.

"It's not possible. Surely Jack would know?"

"Come off it, Gwen," Owen growled. "You were in the police force before you came to Torchwood. How many times did you come across some poor sap who didn't know he'd fathered a kid?"

"Plenty of times in our job," Alex spoke up ruefully. "And believe me, I will not be missing that part of the job at all."

A ripple of laughter swept across the group, and then Owen spoke up.

"Look, why don't all of you clear out? It's dead quiet, and the only thing to do is feed the pets, and keep an eye on the tests. I can do all of that."

"Are you sure?" Tosh asked, sounding slightly sceptical. "Remember what happened the last time you tried to feed Myfanwy...?"

"Yes, all right, no need to go into that, thankyou," Owen retorted before she had a chance to elaborate. "Just clear out, all of you. I promise I'll call each and every one of you straight away if there's a rift alert. Especially if it's after midnight. Now go on, get."

"Thankyou, love," Gwen said sincerely, kissing him briefly on the cheek before hurrying to gather up her things.

"We don't have to go," Alex said tentatively, although she couldn't mask her enthusiasm at the possibility of having some free time to explore the city. Owen caught the look on her face, and smiled warmly.

"Go on. Both of you, get out of here. Get out and see the city, because god knows you're not going to have many other chances to do that. I have a feeling that this business with Eleya is going to hit the fan at some point, so enjoy the time while you've got it."

Thanking the medic profusely, the two former detectives collected their belongings, and hurried out of the Hub before Owen could change his mind. Within minutes, only he and Tosh were left.

"Go on, Tosh," Owen told her. "Go home."

She smiled demurely at him, though, and shook her head.

"No, I don't think so."

"You don't need to stay, Tosh."

"I know I don't," she assured him. "But I want to. Unless you're saying you don't want my company?"

He looked momentarily taken aback before shaking off the surprise and smiling wryly.

"Not at all, Miss Sato. I'd be most pleased to have your company for the evening."

Tosh's expression softened a little with pleasure.

"All right, then. Now, if you want to feed Janet, I'll take care of Myfanwy. Then, we can decide what we'll do for a meal tonight. All right?"  
Owen nodded, more than a little relieved at the knowledge that he didn't have to risk losing a hand... or any other appendage... to Jack's flying pet. For that alone, he could have kissed Tosh senseless. Instead, though, he just returned her smile with a rare, genuine one of his own.

"All right."

* * *

A couple of hours later, Bobby and Alex found themselves sitting in a cosy little cafe in the central part of Cardiff, watching as the city came alive with the onset of night time.

"Kind of like New York," Alex mused, "but on a smaller scale."

"Do you miss being home?" Bobby asked, and Alex shrugged a little.

"A bit, but I like being here, too. It doesn't feel so... so..."

"Claustrophobic?" Bobby suggested, and Alex had to smile.

"I guess so. It doesn't feel quite so claustrophobic as New York. Look at the people, Bobby. They're not in a rush to go anywhere, or do anything. Everyone back home always seems to be in such a damned hurry. Like they're terrified they're going to miss out on something."

Bobby nodded in agreement as he looked around.

"I know. I know what you mean."

"You like it here, don't you?" Alex asked quietly, watching him with a practised thoughtfulness. Bobby didn't make any effort to deny her words.

"Yes, I do, probably for the same reasons. It's not as hectic here. I like the slightly slower pace. No one here looks panicked. You watch some of the people on the street back home, and they do look like that. They looked panicked, Alex."

"I know. Tell me, Bobby... If Jack hadn't told us he was going to set up a base in New York... If the job had been for here, in Cardiff, would you still have taken it?"

He grew quiet, and his expression became masked. She recognised the signs only too well of him shutting down when he knew the answer he had to her questions was one he didn't think she'd like. Reaching out, she covered his hand with her own.

"Tell me the truth, Bobby. Please. I won't be angry about it, I'm just curious to know. Would you have left New York to come and work here in Cardiff?"

"It depends," he answered finally. When she raised an eyebrow, he protested quickly. "Really, Alex. I don't deny I was seriously considering it, even before Jack told us about the New York base, but I don't really know whether I would have actually gone ahead with shifting from New York to here. As much as I like this city, New York is still my home. It would have taken a lot to make me make a move like that... even with Ross being such an asshole."

Alex laughed softly.

"You want to know a secret?"

"Mm? What's that?"

"I was thinking about it, too."

Bobby blinked.

"Really?"

"Yes. And you want to know another secret? Just... promise me you won't be pissed off at me over this?"

Bobby said nothing, but raised an eyebrow quizzically. Breathing in deeply, Alex took the plunge and made her confession to her partner and friend.

"I knew that Jack was planning on setting up a base in New York," she blurted out. Bobby gaped at her.

"How? When...?"

"That morning... the same day that Jack and Ianto came to dinner at my place... I followed Jack when he left One Police Plaza to get coffee, and he told me that he planned to set up the base in New York."

"Did he also tell you that he wanted you to join as well?" Bobby wondered, and Alex nodded somewhat sheepishly.

"He did tell me, yes. Are you mad?"

"What? No! No, I'm not mad... I'm just curious... Alex, why didn't you say anything? You knew I was in knots over the whole situation."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I didn't tell you firstly because I didn't know what I was going to do myself. Secondly, I didn't want anything I might have said or done to influence what choice you made. You needed to make the decision on your own, for your own sake. If you'd made your choice based on my decision, you might have made the wrong choice. I didn't want to be responsible for that."

Bobby nodded slowly as he sipped at his coffee.

"I understand. It's okay, and no. I'm not mad at all. Relieved, more than anything."

"Thankyou," Alex murmured, sounding relieved herself. Bobby smiled and settled back in his chair contentedly.

"You know the last time I felt this content?"

"When was that?" she wondered, not sure what he was going to say.

"When you offered to partner me, so that I wouldn't get the boot from Major Case," he told her with the kind of sweet smile that she saw only very rarely, and couldn't help responding to.

"Best decision I ever made," she assured him, and his smile widened.

"One of the two best decisions," he corrected her lightly. Alex looked around them, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Definitely."

* * *

_to be continued..._


	11. Revelations

**A/N**: _I'm posting this extra chapter because I got impatient.  
Also, the science in this chapter is probably arguable, but I claim poetic license. And now I am hauling my muse back over to "Ashes" and "What never Should Be" by her furry hide._

* * *

On arrival at Ianto's apartment, Ianto quickly got Eleya settled in the lounge room with her colouring books and a randomly chosen DVD — Disney's Finding Nemo, if he wasn't mistaken — and then set himself to taking care of Jack. While Eleya sat on the floor, colouring in and watching the movie, Ianto guided Jack to lie down on the couch with his head resting in Ianto's lap and his feet up on the arm of the couch. Ianto then began to gently massage Jack's scalp with sure and knowing fingers, eliciting a soft groan of appreciation from the Captain.

"You are so good at this," Jack mumbled, his eyes fluttering closed as he gradually began to relax. The massage, combined with the drugs Owen had insisted he take, were beginning to have an effect, and the pain was finally beginning to abate.

"I learned from the best," Ianto said with an affectionate smile. "Just relax. Let me take care of you."

Jack willingly surrendered himself to Ianto's ministrations. That submission, on its own, was enough to take Ianto's breath away. He knew that he was the only one who garnered that level of trust from the Captain. Not Gwen, Tosh, Owen... The only other being in existence in whom Jack might have shown a similar level of trust was the Doctor, and even then Ianto wasn't so sure.

It staggered him to think that Jack believed in him so completely, after everything they'd been through... after all the times and all the ways he had betrayed his beloved Captain...

"You're thinking too hard," Jack murmured, not even bothering to open his eyes. Ianto started a little, and realised that in his train of thought had caused him to cease the massage. Shaking himself back to reality, he began to move his fingers over Jack's scalp once more.

"You know," he mused, "the only times you usually end up with headaches like this are after you've died from a head wound."

"I know, and believe me, I'm not impressed."

Ianto frowned a little.

"You really don't remember anything at all?"

Jack opened one eye to stare up at Ianto.

"No. I said I didn't. You don't believe me?"

There was just a hint of tension in Jack's tone, and Ianto was anxious to placate him.

"Of course I do. I just wonder if it's the shock, and that the memory might come back given time, or the right catalyst."

"Tell me again what happened," Jack said. "Tell me exactly what you saw."

Ianto described the incident in as much detail as he could, trying hard not to shudder at the memory of Jack locked in a moment of apparent sheer horror, and the panic and fear that followed soon after. As he spoke, Jack's face creased in a frown.

"Remember..." he muttered. "Memories..."

Ianto peered down at him, puzzled and concerned.

"Jack?"

"I can't remember any one thing clearly," Jack answered finally. "But I think... what I saw were memories... Memories that were embedded in the pendant. There were so many that it completely overwhelmed me... It sent me into mild psychic shock."

"Whose memories?" Ianto wondered, slightly annoyed that Owen's estimate had apparently been right. "Eleya's?"

"Maybe," Jack conceded. "Maybe a combination of hers and someone else's... I don't know. Ianto, what happened to the pendant?"

"Tosh took it for analysis. Eleya wasn't terribly impressed, but Bobby managed to convince her it was for the best."

Jack smiled wryly.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me that Bobby could operate on three year old logic."

"I don't know if she understood what he said to her," Ianto said. "I suspect it was more his tone of voice that calmed her."

"Mm. He has that kind of demeanour. It's one of the things I like about him. He knows what to say, and when to say it... even to a three year old."

A sudden squeal of delight interrupted their quiet conversation, and both men looked to see Eleya laughing at the television.

"Tuttur!" she squealed, pointing at the screen.

"The surfing turtles," Ianto said with a chuckle. "My nephews love this part, too."

Jack raised an eyebrow slightly. "Disney?"

"Uh huh. Always a winner."

"So... Is this the only Disney movie you have in your collection?"

Ianto shifted slightly, and Jack was sure that his face had reddened just a little.

"I might have a few of them."

"Such as...?"

Oh yeah, he was definitely embarrassed, Jack thought with a barely-hidden grin. Ianto caught his look, and slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Stop it. I have some of my nephews' favourite movies here for when they come to visit. Some of them just happen to be Disney movies. It's not that big a deal."

"Well, do you watch any of them when they're not here?" Jack pressed. Ianto mock scowled at him.

"How would you like me to shove you off the couch, cariad?"

Jack uttered a low chuckle.

"Sorry."

Shaking his head, Ianto leaned down and kissed Jack softly on the forehead.

"Never mind. And for the record, yes. Sometimes I do watch them, just to help me to relax after a difficult day. You'd be amazed at how relaxing it can be."

"Maybe I'll give it a try some time," Jack murmured, and Ianto grinned.

"How about right now?"

Jack responded with a groan, and brought one hand up to cover his eyes.

"Not right now. I don't think my eyes could handle it. Or the rest of my head, for that matter."

The amused smile faded from Ianto's face as he heard the pain and exhaustion in his lover's voice.

"Head still hurting, then?"

"It's better than it was," Jack conceded, "but I still feel like I got run over by a steamroller."

A grimace flickered across Ianto's face.

"I do not want to know whether that comparison is based on experience."

Jack smiled wryly, but before he had a chance to say anything more, movement beside him alerted them both to the fact that Eleya had abandoned watching the movie and had come over to the couch.

"Dada ouch," she said softly, with all the innocent sympathy of a small child. Jack smiled weakly, quietly hating himself for being so obvious in his pained state.

"A little," he confessed, "but I'll be fine. Don't worry, baby."

Ignoring him, Eleya reached out and touched Jack's forehead with her fingertips, a slight frown on her young face.

"Ouch go way."

Jack gasped a little as he felt an odd and slightly discomforting tugging sensation in his head, followed by the briefest flash of near blinding pain, and then...

He blinked as his vision cleared of the spots that had been dancing in front of his eyes. The headache was gone.

"Jack? Jack, what is it? Are you all right?"

He could hear Ianto begging him for an answer, but it took him a moment to get his head together.

"It's gone," he said finally, hoarsely. He hesitated a moment, and then sat up, and was gratified not to feel any ill effects. "The headache is gone!"

"What?" Ianto said in confusion and disbelief. "How could it be..."

He trailed off, and both men turned their heads at the same moment to look at Eleya, who stood there patiently, watching them with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Dada nai ouch," she said simply, and turned and went back to her colouring books, and the movie.

"Oh gods," Ianto whispered as the gravity of what had just happened began to sink in. "Jack, she healed you!"

He looked sideways at his lover when there was no response, and was slightly disconcerted by the increasingly thoughtful expression on Jack's face.

"Jack? What is it? What are you thinking?"

"Balances," Jack answered softly, not taking his eyes off Eleya. "She's already proven she has the power to take life. Now, she's shown us that she also has the power to heal. Everything needs balance, or there'd be chaos, even in individual people. Eleya is a living example of that. She is balance."

"If I hadn't just seen it for myself," Ianto said ruefully, "I'd think you were being melodramatic. But you are right... Jack, what are we letting ourselves in for?"

"I don't know," Jack admitted softly. "What I do know is that we're going to have to be extra careful from here on, because whoever was after this little girl is not going to give up easily. Not with what she seems to be capable of. We need to be ready for some unwelcome visitors, and probably very soon."

A slightly bitter smile spread across Ianto's face.

"Never rains, but it pours. What an introduction to Torchwood this is turning out to be for Bobby and Alex."

Jack smiled grimly.

"If they get through this unscathed, then they'll be ready for anything by the time they go home to New York."

Ianto's smile faded.

"If," he echoed softly. Jack sighed and pulled Ianto into his arms, pressing a lingering kiss to his temple.

"They'll be fine. We all will be."

Ianto just shut his eyes, and kept his doubts to himself.

* * *

Owen wandered down into the medical bay just after three in the morning, tired and yet unable to sleep. Toshiko had insisted on stay with him, despite his protests that he was fine, and now she lay sprawled out adorably on the couch upstairs, with a throw rug draped over her to keep her from getting a chill.

He knew he was an ass, but he couldn't bring himself to thank her for being so willing to keep him company. All he could hope was that she knew how much he appreciated her without him actually saying the words out loud.

Stifling a yawn, he pushed those thoughts to the side and wandered over to his computer. The results from the DNA comparison were ready, and he briefly considered just printing them out without looking at them, and leaving them on Jack's desk for him to check when he arrived later on. Curiosity won out, though, and he punched a button on the keyboard to bring the results up on the screen.

For nearly a minute, Owen didn't understand what he was looking at, and he very nearly put it down to being overtired. Then, reality slowly sunk in as he realised that he was not misinterpreting the data that was in front of him.

"Fuck me," he whispered, stunned by what he was reading. For a moment, his brain tried to reject the results as flawed, or just plain wrong. But then, beyond the shock, Owen recalled occasional throw-away comments that Jack had made over the last few years. They were comments that all of them had come to ignore, putting them down to Jack's slightly oddball sense of humour. Maybe, though... Just maybe, he hadn't been joking about it at all.

Making a snap decision, Owen printed the results off, saved the file and then hurried back upstairs. Tosh had woken up whilst he'd been gone, and looked at him now in confusion.

"Owen? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Tosh, love, but I can't tell you," he said grimly. "Listen, do you mind staying here? I have to get over to Ianto's place."

The confusion morphed into incredulity.

"Now? Owen, it's... what, three in the morning! Ianto will kill you if you turn up there now!"

"I have to," Owen said grimly as he pulled on his coat. "I have to see Jack. This can't wait."

"Not even just a few hours? You know he'll be back here before seven..."

"Can't wait," Owen insisted. "I have to see Jack, and I have to see him now. Tosh, please. I'm sorry, but I can't explain it to you. Not yet."

She nodded, won over by his anxiety and sincerity.

"All right. Go on, I'll keep an eye on things here."

On impulse, Owen leaned in and kissed her tenderly on the cheek.

"Thankyou."

Tosh smiled sadly as Owen literally bounded out of the Hub.

"You're welcome."

* * *

Ianto awoke with a start in the dead of night, brought back into awareness by the pitiful sound of sobbing, and a tiny hand patting his arm. His eyes opened blearily, and quickly focused on the tear-streaked face at the edge of the bed.

"Anno," Eleya sobbed, fresh tears spilling from her eyes in large drops. "Dada gone…"

Ianto looked around in confusion and momentary panic, only to be relieved at the sight of Jack sound asleep beside him, his face thoroughly buried in the pillow. It was a rare and welcome sight, although Ianto did wonder how Jack managed to avoid suffocating himself. He reached over and gave Jack a shove, barely stifling a laugh as Jack's head came up, hair in a mess and expression groggy.

"Jack, wake up," Ianto told him. "Eleya's upset. She thought you were gone."

Jack snapped awake in an instant, and leaned awkwardly over Ianto to lift Eleya up onto the bed between them. Ianto grunted as Jack's elbow hit a particularly sensitive spot, but refrained from saying anything. He just quietly gave thanks that they were both wearing boxer shorts and tee-shirts.

"Hey, baby, what's the matter?" Jack murmured, wrapping his arms around the sobbing child. She clung to him tightly, burying her face against his chest.

"Dada, ayla me k'yunn."

"What's she saying?" Ianto asked, not fully expecting Jack to answer. He was both surprised and relieved when Jack did reply.

"She said she dreamed I was gone."

"Dada kun maya dumo," Eleya wailed, her voice muffled.

"She thought the bad men took me away again," Jack murmured. He hugged her tightly, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "It's okay, baby. I'm not going anywhere."

Ianto rubbed her back gently.

"I'll guarantee that."

"C'mon, now," Jack murmured. "Lie down, that's the way."

He gently eased her down between them, and pulled the blankets up to cover her trembling body.

"Domestic," Ianto whispered with a fond smile as Jack soothed the little girl. Jack pulled a face, but said nothing to dispute him. He settled down and hummed a soft tune that Ianto didn't recognise. Eleya curled in against Jack, but just as Ianto was starting to feel as though he should vacate the bed and leave them alone, the little girl abruptly turned and grabbed his hand and tugged him closer.

"Anno, cuncun."

"Cuncun?" Ianto echoed, puzzled. Jack chuckled quietly.

"She wants you to cuddle with us."

Feeling oddly pleased, Ianto settled back down, wrapping one arm around to embrace both Jack and Eleya together. Jack continued humming softly, and Ianto's eyes began to grow heavy. He was just on the cusp of drifting off to sleep when the sound of the doorbell ringing dragged him rudely back into awareness.

"What the fmmph…"

"Language," Jack warned before removing his hand from Ianto's mouth. Scowling, Ianto pushed himself up.

"I'll go and see who it is, and if they don't have a damned good reason for waking us up in the middle of the night, I'll kill them."

"Technically, we weren't asleep," Jack pointed out.

"And technically, it's not the middle of the night," Ianto snapped. "But I'm still going to kill them."

He stomped out of the room, leaving Jack to chuckle to himself. Listening carefully, he heard the front door open, and Ianto verbally explode.

"Owen? What the hell do you think you're doing, turning up here at this hour?"

Jack winced, feeling marginally sorry for the medic. The sympathy lasted, though, for about as long as it took for Jack to start to wonder just what was so wrong to bring Owen to Ianto's doorstep at three-thirty in the morning.

"Dada?" Eleya asked anxiously, and he hugged her to him in response.

"It's okay, baby," he murmured. "Everything's fine."

The voices outside had faded to a low murmur, before dropping out of earshot altogether. Then, a moment later, the bedroom door opened and Ianto came back in.

"Jack, Owen's here."

"I gathered," Jack said ruefully, propping himself up on his elbow. "Any particular reason why you haven't booted him back out on his scrawny butt?"

"I can hear you, Harkness!" Owen bellowed from somewhere beyond the bedroom. Jack snorted, but didn't react.

"He needs to talk to you… to us," Ianto said quietly. "He said it's about Eleya, and that it can't wait."

Jack stared at Ianto wordlessly for nearly a minute before nodding in acquiescence.

"All right. We'll be right out."

* * *

Owen was pacing nervously, but came to an abrupt halt when Jack emerged with Eleya in his arms. The Captain fixed Owen with a hard stare as he sat down carefully in one of the armchairs, and cradled Eleya gently to him.

"I hope you have a damned good reason for showing up here at this hour, Owen."

The medic looked both apologetic and frustrated.

"Jack, do you really think I'd have come if I didn't think it was important?"  
Jack had to concede to that.

"What is it, Owen? Spit it out."

Owen ran his fingers through his short hair.

"The results of the DNA comparison came in."

Ianto glanced worriedly at Jack, who had gone visibly tense.

"And?" he asked when Jack didn't.

"There's no doubt about it," Owen told them soberly. "She is your daughter, Jack."

Silence met the announcement. Ianto watched Jack, who in turned watched Eleya, who was curled up contentedly against his chest and apparently blissfully oblivious to the sudden tension around her. Owen looked back and forth between Jack and Ianto, waiting for one of them to react.

"I guess Eleya was right after all," Ianto said finally, breaking the silence. Jack didn't move, and he didn't take his eyes off the child cradled in his arms.

"She's mine," he whispered, as though he still couldn't quite believe it. "You're mine. My baby…"

"Dada," Eleya sighed, half asleep. When Jack finally looked up at Owen, the anger was gone from his face.

"Is there any reason why you couldn't wait a few hours to give us that piece of news, Owen?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. There's more to it, Jack."

"Well… Are you going to tell us?" Jack pressed when Owen hesitated. The medic hesitated a moment longer, as though trying to decide just how to put a particularly delicate question. In the end, though, he simply blurted it out.

"Jack… Just how serious were you when you told us you could get pregnant?"

Again, a deathly silence met Owen's words.

"You can't be serious," Ianto said finally, hoarsely. "Owen, please say you're joking?"

Owen ignored Ianto, keeping his focus entirely on Jack. The Captain stared back at him, his expression unreadable. When he gave no indication of speaking, Owen elaborated.

"The test proved that Eleya is your daughter, beyond any doubt. But that's where it lost any sense of normality. The matches in DNA weren't indicative of father to daughter. They were indicative of mother to daughter. She isn't merely your daughter, Jack. You were the one who carried her."

For a split second, Ianto honestly thought Jack was going to shove Eleya away from him in panic. But then, as the shock subsided, he tightened his grip on the little girl, and buried his face in her silvery black hair. It was only when they saw his shoulders start to shake that both Ianto and Owen realised he was crying.

Ianto very nearly tumbled out of the chair in his desperation to get to Jack.

"Cariad? What is it?" he asked anxiously. "Jack?"

Eleya whimpered faintly as Jack's hold on her started to hurt. Grimacing, Ianto tried to pry her from his lover's grip.

"Jack, love, let her go. You're hurting her, Jack."

With some effort, Ianto managed to get Eleya out of Jack's vice-like grip, and passed her to a somewhat startled Owen before turning back to Jack and quickly embracing him.

"Hush, love," Ianto murmured, and then glanced back over his shoulder. "Owen, do you think you could take Eleya into the kitchen, and get her some warm milk?"

"Uh, yeah..." Owen muttered. "Sure. C'mon, kid. How 'bout we go get a nice cup of milk?"

Eleya hesitated, looking uncertainly from Jack to Ianto before allowing Owen to take her from the room.

"All right," Ianto murmured, once they'd gone. "Talk to me, Jack. Tell me what you're thinking."

Shudders went through Jack, and his arms found their way around Ianto, clinging to him just as he'd been clinging to Eleya just moments ago.

"I carried her, Ianto," Jack said shakily, his voice muffled by Ianto's shoulder. "I carried her..."

"That's what Owen said," Ianto agreed, feeling slightly puzzled.

"But I don't remember," Jack persisted. "Ianto, I don't remember it!"

"Jack..."

"Don't you get it?" Jack exploded, pulling back from the younger man and grabbing him so hard by the shoulders that he winced. "If I'd fathered her with a woman, I could accept that I didn't know about her, but I carried her! In a hundred and seventy years, I would never, never forget that. Never!"  
Ianto stared at Jack, confused and a little bit frightened by the wild look in his lover's eyes.

"Jack, I don't understand..."

"Two years, Ianto," Jack said hoarsely. "The Time Agency wiped two years from my memory. I always thought it was because I must have done something terrible, but it wasn't that at all. And I was so angry at them for taking my memories, but in reality, they stole something much worse from me. They stole my baby from me, Ianto..."

He dissolved into a fresh wave of tears, shaking violently in the younger man's arms. Ianto held him tightly, feeling sick to his stomach as the gravity of the situation slowly began to sink in.

"I don't remember her," Jack sobbed. "I don't remember her at all... I want them back, Ianto. I want my memories back..."

Ianto was on the verge of saying he didn't know what to do when a thought struck him.

"The pendant!"

"Wh... What?"

"Jack, the pendant! Eleya's pendant! She said you gave that to her, right?"

"Yes. So...?"

"When you touched it you were bombarded by memories. What if those memories weren't Eleya's memories? What if they were yours?"

Jack froze in Ianto's arms.

"A trigger," he whispered hoarsely. "The pendant is a psychic trigger... If I knew they were coming for me, and I knew what they'd do to me..."

"You might have tried to do something that would give yourself a chance at reversing it," Ianto concluded. Jack cupped Ianto's face and kissed him fiercely.

"I love you, Ianto Jones. Don't ever, ever doubt that."

"What do we do, then?" Ianto asked breathlessly.

"When we get to the Hub, I'll use the pendant," Jack said. "Now I know what it is, I know how to use it properly. I'll need everyone to be there, and to be on maximum alert, though. There's every chance I could be out of commission for a while."

Ianto frowned, not especially liking the sound of that.

"What do you mean, out of commission?"

"Best case scenario," Jack told him, "it might just throw me for a loop, maybe cause me to faint. We're talking about two years worth of memories here, Ianto."

Ianto felt a chill go through him.

"Worst case scenario...?"

Jack regarded him sombrely.

"The shock could put me in a coma... or maybe even kill me."

With some effort, Ianto swallowed the bile that threatened to rise up in his throat. He was horrified at the thought that Jack might suffer a shock severe enough to kill him, but what truly frightened him was the possibility of his lover being left trapped in a coma, where no one could reach him. Jack would come back from death, but coma? That was an uncertainty that he simply didn't want to have to face.

"Jack," he said softly, hesitantly. "I know you said you didn't want to involve him, and ordinarily I'd be happy with that... but in this instance... Maybe we should call the Doctor."

The Captain looked equally uncertain, much to Ianto's quiet relief.

"What if he thinks Eleya being here is creating a paradox? What if he tries to take her away?"

Ianto caressed Jack's cheek lovingly.

"I'll regenerate him myself before I let that happen, I promise. No one is taking that little girl away from us, cariad."

Jack pulled Ianto back into a ferocious hug.

"I love you so much, Ianto."

Ianto returned the embrace with equal enthusiasm.

"I love you too, Jack. Now, how about we go into the kitchen and show Eleya that her dada is okay?"

Smiling tearfully, Jack got up and, keeping a tight hold on his lover's hand, headed into the kitchen.

* * *

Jack and Ianto entered the kitchen to find Eleya sitting on a stool at the bench, with Owen helping her to drink from a cup.

"I do have children's cups," Ianto pointed out dryly, pulling open one cupboard door and indicating a couple of toddler-proof sippy cups. Owen never took his eyes from the little girl, ensuring she didn't lose her grip on the cup, or spill anything from it.

"Yes, well, I'm not exactly a regular visitor here, am I? How am I supposed to know you cater for children?"

"I have two nephews, Owen."

"Point made, noted and duly dismissed."

Eleya pulled back from Owen at that point, and her face lit up at the sight of Jack. Abandoning her drink, she stretched her arms out towards him for a cuddle.

"Dada!"

Jack didn't hesitate. He swept her off the bench and wrapped her up in a ferocious hug, looking like he was never going to let her go.

"Everything okay, then?" Owen asked quietly. He was not the least bit surprised when Ianto responded with a shake of his head.

"Not yet, but we'll get there. Will you be going back to the Hub?"

"Yeah. I kind of left Tosh there holding the fort. I ought to get back."

Well, we'll be coming back in a few hours. Jack's going to want everyone in for a team conference, but I want to try and convince him to get a couple more hours' sleep, if I can."

A grim smile twisted Owen's lips briefly.

"Uh huh. Good luck with that."

He excused himself and left, his departure unnoticed by Jack whose attention was solely on his daughter.

"Ma dada," Eleya said lovingly, placing her little hands on Jack's cheeks and kissing his nose. Jack smiled tearfully.

"Yes, baby. I'm your dada."

Ianto smiled at the sight, and consciously swallowed a desire to remark that perhaps it would be more accurate for her to be calling him 'Mama'. That was a joke that Jack didn't need to her right then.

Eleya looked around, spotted Ianto and held out a hand to him. He took it with a smile, and found himself drawn into the embrace.

"Dada," she said again. Then, to Ianto, she said, "Unna."

"She just called you 'Uncle'," Jack said amusedly.

"I think I prefer 'Anno'," he remarked wryly. Jack grinned suddenly and whispered something into the little girl's ear. A smile broke out over her face, and she giggled happily.

"Tad!"

Ianto blinked, taken aback.

"Tad?"

Jack's smile faltered.

"I got it right, didn't I? That is the Welsh word for 'dad'?"

"Well, yes... But do you really want Eleya calling another man 'Dad'?"

"If you're uncomfortable with it..." Jack mumbled, suddenly painfully uncertain. Ianto leaned in and kissed him lightly.

"I'm honoured. But perhaps we should wait until Eleya understands what 'Tad' actually means, and let her decide whether she wants to call me that. Until then, I'm perfectly happy being called 'Anno'. All right?"

Jack smiled then in relief.

"All right."

* * *

_to be continued..._


	12. Fallout

In the end, Ianto's hopes that Jack might acquire an extra couple of hours sleep proved to be futile. Eleya, however, had no such qualms and happily curled back up in bed and quickly dozed off. It was no surprise to Ianto that Jack settled himself into a chair beside her bed to watch her sleep. He stood in the doorway of the spare room for nearly ten minutes, unnoticed by his lover, before venturing in.

"We'll need to redecorate," Ianto mused quietly.

Jack looked up at him, confused. "What?"

"This room," Ianto elaborated. "It's hardly what you'd consider appropriate for a little girl's bedroom. We'll need to go shopping, so that she'll have a suitable bed… chest of drawers… Oh, and I suppose we'll need to invest in a toy box, because you know that the women are going to spoil her silly."

"You'd really accept her?" Jack asked softly. He sounded confused, and looked so lost right then that Ianto's heart clenched painfully in his chest. He also couldn't help but notice Eleya's tiny hand, resting in Jack's larger one — each one clinging to the other, and neither one apparently willing to let the other go.

It was equally touching and heartbreaking.

"Of course I accept her, Jack," he answered finally. "Granted, there are still a lot of answers that we need, but she's still a part of you... and I think we both knew that, even before Owen confirmed it. She's a part of you, and I will never reject that."

Jack didn't respond to that, instead returning his attention to the sleeping child. He looked so sad that it damn ear broke Ianto's heart.

"Cariad, what's wrong?"

"I'm scared," Jack admitted in a whisper.

"Of what?"

"Of what I'll learn when I use the trigger," Jack admitted. "Of whoever it is that's after Eleya. Of losing her all over again... sooner or later."

Ianto sat down carefully on the edge of the bed and drew Jack in to lean against him.

"One step at a time, Jack. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, all right? Now, I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're going to go and get another couple of hours sleep. Then, tomorrow morning you'll call the Doctor and ask him to come. Because I think that for what you need to do, you'd be better off doing it in the TARDIS."

Jack raised an eyebrow quizzically, and Ianto returned the look with a sad smile.

"I don't like it, but you're going to be vulnerable, and I want you to be safe. In this instance, the safest place for you will be inside the TARDIS... if the Doctor is willing to help."

Jack shifted and rested his head against Ianto's shoulder, while still keeping a hold on Eleya's hand.

"I keep telling myself everything will be fine but I can't quite make myself believe it."

"Come back to bed," Ianto murmured, kissing Jack tenderly on the top of his head. "We'll deal with it when we get back to the Hub."

He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or worried that Jack went without protest.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Ianto emerged from the shower feeling marginally more refreshed after having managed to get an extra hour or so of sleep. He wasn't sure how much sleep Jack had gotten — he suspected not much at all, and he had not been the least bit surprised to wake up in bed alone. Jack, he'd discovered, was back in sitting with Eleya, who was thankfully still sound asleep. Deciding to leave Jack for the moment, he'd taken the opportunity to shower, and he was grateful that he had.

He started preparing breakfast, toasting bread and frying bacon and eggs. As eager as he knew Jack was likely to be to get back to the Hub, Ianto was determined that they would start what promised to be a long and difficult day in the right way. He was so focused on the task at hand that he didn't realise he was no longer alone until he turned and spotted Eleya creeping towards him with all the stealth of a trained spy. As soon as he sighted her, she shrieked in delight and launched herself forward, into his arms.

Warmed by her enthusiastic greeting, Ianto lifted the little girl and hugged her to him.

"Good morning to you, too. And where's your daddy, hmm?"

"Here," Jack said with a wry smile as he emerged from the bedroom. "I dozed off for a few seconds, and she gave me the slip."

Ianto willingly handed Eleya into Jack's waiting arms, although he quietly made note of the nervous strain in his lover's eyes. He probably had a mild panic attack, Ianto mused, waking up to find Eleya gone.

"You didn't have to make breakfast, Ianto," Jack remarked. "I'm not hungry."

"You might not be," Ianto replied unapologetically. "However, I am, and I have no doubt that Eleya is, too. So, even if you're not going to eat, you can just be patient while we do."

Jack grimaced, and Ianto knew he'd been right that Jack wasn't thinking beyond getting to the Hub and using the trigger.

"Sorry," he murmured as he sat Eleya on one of the stools at the bench. "You're right... We should have a proper breakfast."

Ianto reached across to caress Jack's cheek tenderly.

"Little details, Jack. It's a learn-as-you-go process. At least, that's what my sister said when she had her first baby. You've been separated from Eleya for a long time. It'll take time to get back into the groove of parenting."

Unease flickered across Jack's face, setting off the alarm bells in Ianto's mind. He knew that look only too well. It was the look that Jack got when he was thinking of something that he knew damned well was going to be unpopular with everyone around him. It was the very same look he'd had right before the team had gone to face the Mara fairies one last time... It was the same look he'd had right before he announced his decision to go and face Abaddon alone, taking Gwen with him only as a means of getting out of the city, because he'd still be horribly weak from a previous death.

"Jack, what are you thinking?" Ianto asked quietly as he filled three plates with bacon, eggs and toast.

In all honesty, he didn't expect to get a reply, so to say that he was surprised when Jack did respond was a fair understatement.

"Should... Should I even be giving myself that chance?" Jack wondered. "What sort of father could I possibly be, Ianto?"

"A great one," Ianto answered confidently, but Jack looked unconvinced.

"Yeah. So great that she ended up alone, out of her time and scared out of her mind."

"Don't start judging yourself on something that you don't even remember," Ianto warned him. "Until you do remember, you can't go jumping to any conclusions. You have no idea what the circumstances were, Jack, and you can't make a judgement on whether you're fit to be a parent or not based on that alone."

Jack ran his fingers through his hair, and it took some effort on Ianto's part not to burst out laughing at the way it stuck up in all directions. Unaware of his hair plight, Jack reached over and began to cut the bacon and eggs into smaller, more manageable pieces for Eleya whilst she munched on a piece of toast.

"I love kids, Ianto. I really do. And I love Eleya... as much as I can, that is, considering I don't actually remember her as being mine. But actually looking after and raising one? Look at what we do! Can I really justify putting a little girl into the middle of all of that? And what if someone out there finds out about her? I have a lot of enemies, Ianto. She could be in danger just by association."

"Jack, stop it," Ianto told him abruptly, and Jack's mouth snapped shut at Ianto's stern tone. The younger man sounded so much like the Doctor in that brief moment that it nearly brought tears to Jack's eyes. He said nothing, though, watching and waiting for Ianto to speak.

"You are over-thinking this way too much, Jack," Ianto told him firmly. "You need to stop, and just take it one step at a time. We'll answer each of those questions in time, together. And in the meantime, as far as you being a natural at parenting or not... Just look at what you're doing, Jack."

Jack paused briefly in his actions, looking down in confusion.

"What...?"

"You're cutting up her food, cariad. You're doing it without thinking about it, like it's the most natural thing in the world for you to do. And she's letting you."

Still, Jack was confused.

"So...?"

Ianto sighed in fond exasperation.

"Not every child would allow someone to do that for them. God knows I've seen my nephews throw tantrums when their mother has tried to cut their food up for them. But you're doing that for Eleya, and she's happy to let you. Like it's something you've done for her plenty of times in the past. Think about it, Jack. There's routine in what you're doing. She's yours, and I think you're going to discover that you were her primary care-giver. Whatever the circumstances were that led to you being separated from her, I don't believe it was your fault, and I'm completely confident that you'll find that out for yourself when you use that trigger."

Jack stared at Ianto wonderingly.

"I don't remember the last time someone had such complete faith in me. I'm still trying to work out what I did to deserve that from you."

"You didn't give up on me," Ianto said simply, with a shrug. "Even when you had every justification for washing your hands of me, you didn't. So if you're confused over why I have such faith in you, perhaps you should be reminding yourself that it's because you had faith in me first. Quid pro quo, Jack."

Jack nodded.

"Thankyou. And... I love you, Ianto. Don't ever doubt that, okay?"

Ianto smiled as he came around with his plate, and first kissed Eleya on the top of her head before kissing Jack's cheek.

"I don't doubt it. Now, how about we all sit at the table, like a family?"

Jack's heart clenched at the word 'family', but he didn't object, carrying his and Eleya's plates over to the table so that they could all sit down together. It seemed so normal, that it was almost painful. Normal was something that Jack had abandoned hopes of a long time ago, even before he'd been made immortal by a teenager girl with all the power of the universe running through her veins. This was just a bittersweet reminder that it would never last, no matter how desperately he wanted it to. One day, one painful day, Ianto would be gone. So would Eleya, and he would be alone once more.

"Jack, what are you thinking?" Ianto asked softly, acutely aware of the tears that were filling his lover's eyes. Jack looked up at him, and the tears overflowed, rolling down his cheeks unchecked.

"That I don't want to be alone," he admitted.

His heart breaking, Ianto pulled his chair around and pulled Jack into a fiercely protective embrace. There was nothing he could say to make it any better, and he knew it. Ultimately, all he could do was to try and offer physical comfort, even if it was by way of a simple hug. He felt Jack shaking against him, and wondered worriedly just what was likely to happen once Jack finally regained the memories that he'd been missing for so long.

The sound of a chair pushing out from the table reached his ears, and a moment later Eleya squirmed in between them, and wrapped her arms awkwardly around Jack's waist.

"Donno crunn, Dada. Mai e Tad dore koo."

"What did she say?" Ianto asked when Jack's sobs dissolved into a slightly hysterical giggle.

"She told me not to cry," Jack answered breathlessly. "She said, 'Tad and I are here'."

Ianto rolled his eyes.

"Wonderful. Now she's calling me Tad. You have a lot to answer for, Jack Harkness."

It was meant as a joke, and Jack tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage it.

"I know," he whispered instead, his amusement evaporating. "I know I do."

Ianto could have kicked himself.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't mean it like that. It was an idiotic thing to say. And I meant what I said before, that I'm honoured that you'd like her to call me Tad. I just don't want her to be confused about it. I mean, two fathers...?"

"It's perfectly normal where I come from," Jack pointed out. "And it's not unheard of here and now, either."

Ianto regarded Jack thoughtfully.

"Not with same sex partners, no." He paused before speaking again. "Is that what we are, Jack? Officially? Or is it something else off the record?"

Jack tightened his grip on Ianto.

"I never wanted to hide us from anyone else. Not from the rest of the team, or the rest of Cardiff. I just figured you didn't want it publicised."

"There's a difference between not publicising ourselves to the world, and not being ashamed to let anyone know," Ianto corrected him gently. "I'm not ashamed, Jack. I promise you that."

Jack's breath caught in his throat as he realised where the conversation was headed. For a brief moment, he nearly baulked, but then a strange sense of calm settled over him.

"Would you be my partner, Ianto?"

Ianto looked astonished.

"Officially? As in, rings and saying vows in front of a registrar?"

Jack tightened his hold on Ianto.

"If that's what you want, I'll give it to you."

Ianto sighed, then, and stroked Jack's hair lovingly.

"Cariad, I don't need a piece of paper to convince me that you love me. And as lovely as it would be to have rings to tell the world we're committed to each other, it's just not necessary. But if you mean partners in terms of a personal commitment to each other, then yes. That's what I want."

Jack looked up at him slowly.

"I can't promise I'd be able to stop flirting..."

"And I wouldn't expect you to. It's part of who you are, Jack, and I wouldn't want to change that."

"But I can promise that you're the only one I'll come home to... and the only one I'll sleep with."

Astonishment filled Ianto's face, and then he laughed softly.

"What is it?" Jack wondered, puzzled. Ianto chuckled fondly.

"I told Toshiko that I'd accepted you'll never love me monogamously, and yet here you are saying that you'll commit to me, and me alone. I was just thinking, I don't think I've ever been so happy to be proven wrong in my life."

A smile lit up Jack's face — not the big grin that he flashed to all and sundry, but that gentle, loving smile that he seemed to reserve primarily for Ianto. Smiling in return, Ianto drew Jack in close for a warm embrace.

"Let's just enjoy having breakfast together for now, Jack. We'll deal with everything later, when we get to the Hub. For now, let's just be a family."

Jack's breath hitched in his throat at the word family, and he nodded in acquiescence.

"Okay."

* * *

Largely thanks to Ianto's machinations, they were the last ones to arrive at the Hub. Studiously ignoring each of his team members, Jack headed straight for his office with Eleya securely in his arms and deliberately closed the door behind them. The moment they were out of sight, all eyes turned to Ianto.

"Well?" Gwen asked in a low hiss. Ianto lifted a single eyebrow quizzically.

"Well what?"

"What's happening with Eleya?"

Ianto glanced briefly to Owen, who gave a slight shake of his head. No, he'd not said anything.

"Jack is just making a phone call," he replied quietly. "After that, I believe he intend to call us all for a team meeting, where he'll explain what he can."

"A phone call?" Alex echoed, puzzled. "Who is he calling?"

"The Doctor," Bobby said before Ianto had a chance to respond. "He's calling the Doctor, isn't he? I mean... It makes sense that he would."

Again, Ianto found himself musing that they really needed to test Bobby for psi levels.

"Yes," he admitted. "He is. You'll find out more shortly, but we need his assistance."

"We're going to have him take her home, then?" Gwen asked.

"I'll let Jack explain," Ianto said, deciding it was time to walk away from the conversation before he said something that he knew he'd regret, especially to Gwen. He didn't understand the reasons behind the undercurrent of jealousy in her voice. Why the hell would she be jealous of a toddler, anyway?

He hadn't been lying when he told Alex that Gwen was a huge asset to Torchwood, and he did love her just as Jack did. That, however, didn't keep him from feeling intensely frustrated when she got herself stuck on the 'I'm right and you're wrong' track. He was almost looking forward to seeing the look on her face when they learnt the whole truth.

* * *

In his office, Jack found himself staring at the phone, unable to bring himself to pick it and actually make the damned call. He wanted to see the Doctor again, but a not so small part of his was afraid. As much as a small voice whispered in his mind that his fears were unfounded, he couldn't keep from worrying that the Doctor might try to take Eleya from him.

The little girl squirmed in his lap and twisted around to kiss his cheek.

"Love you, Dada."

Tears stung Jack's eyes, and he hugged her tightly.

"I love you, too, baby."

Fortifying himself, Jack reached for the phone. He needed the Doctor's help, but whatever happened, he would not allow Eleya to be taken away from him — paradox or not.

The call was answered after several rings, with Jack on the cusp of giving up.

"_Hello_...?"

"Doctor, it's about damned time!" Jack barked out, falling back into a gruff impatience to conceal his discomfort.

"_Jack? What have you done now_?"

Jack knew he should have been indignant at the inference that he couldn't keep out of trouble, considering the accusation was coming from a man who literally couldn't stay away from trouble to save his own life. Right then, though, he just didn't have the energy to feel insulted.

"Doctor, I need your help. Can you come?"

The silence on the other end was palpable, and Jack fancied that he could almost hear the wheels turning in the Time Lord's head.

"_Is this a 'the planet's about to implode' emergency, Jack_?"

The Captain felt a ripple of aggravation.

"Did I say it was an emergency? Why do you haave to assume the worst? I said I needed your help, but is not a planetry disaster. If you don't want to come, then just say so..."

"_Whoa, slow down there, Captain. I didn't say that, did I? If you need me, I'll come. Of course, I'll come. Just... calm down._"

At that moment, Eleya chose to rouse herself and clamber up. Her foot slipped at an inopportune moment, and dug into his crotch. Jack grunted loudly in pain, his eyes watering as he struggled to contain his reaction.

"_Jack_?" the Doctor asked, suddenly alarmed. "_Jack, what's wrong? Are you hurt_?"

Before Jack had a chance to respond, Eleya sung out in a quasi-sympathetic tone.

"Dada ouch. Joon-ba!"

The silence on the other end was sudden and profound. When the Doctor finally spoke, his tone was laced with unspoken threat.

"_Captain_, who _was_ that?"

Jack grimaced, and shifted Eleya on his lap.

"I'll explain when you get here. Will you come?"

"_I'll be there_," the Doctor promised, though his promise sounded more ominous than benevolent. "_I'll be there in exactly one hour, Jack, and you had better have a damned good explanation ready. And be warned, Captain. I do not want to hear the words children and Torchwood in the same sentence._"

Jack sighed as the connection was abruptly cut.

"That's going to be a fun conversation."

"Bad man?" Eleya asked softly. He smiled down at her reassuringly.

"No, baby. He's not bad. He's a very good man. He just scares Dada sometimes."

"Donno ari," Eleya murmured, hugging his fiercely. "Ma Dada."

Jack smiled sadly, fresh tears stinging his eyes.

"Yes," he murmured. "That's exactly right, baby. I'm your dada."

The door opened a fraction, and Ianto looked in. He took in the sight of the two of them, and concern flickered across his face.

"Are you all right, Jack?"

Jack looked up at him over Eleya's head.

"He's coming," he answered simply. Ianto ventured further in, acutely aware of the distress in his lover's eyes.

"Cariad, what is it?"

"I love her, Ianto," Jack confessed. "I really do... but I don't feel like I love her as much as I'm supposed to, like a father should love his daughter. I don't feel that depth of emotion for her."

"Because you don't remember her," Ianto concluded quietly.

"Because I don't remember her," Jack agreed heavily.

"When is the Doctor meant to arrive?" Ianto asked.

"In an hour. He knows Eleya is here. He heard her over the phone."

"And...?"

"And he's angry."

Ianto seated himself carefully on the edge of the desk. Eleya, aware of his presence, reached out with one hand to him, which Ianto took without hesitation.

"You didn't have a chance to explain anything to him, did you?"

"Well, no..."

"Then don't worry. I don't believe he'd react badly once he knows the truth."

"Ianto," Jack protested, "I don't even know the entire truth. yet."

"And that is why the Doctor is coming, cariad," Ianto reminded him. "So that you have a chance to discover the truth in the safest possible environment. He promised he'd be there for you, Jack. All we're doing is holding him to that. Now, stop worrying, and let's bring Eleya to the boardroom. It's time we introduced her formally to the team, as your daughter."

Not waiting for Jack to respond, Ianto lifted Eleya out of his arms. She settled on his hip without protest, but held a hand out to Jack in much the same way that she'd done to Ianto only minutes ago. Smiling wearily, Jack lifted himself up and followed them from his office.

* * *

Bobby, Alex, Gwen, Tosh and Owen were all gathered in the boardroom when they walked in. Confronted suddenly by so many extra people, Eleya promptly buried her face in Ianto's shoulder. He murmured soothingly to her in Welsh before handing her back to Jack.

"Before I say anything else," Jack said, "you should all know that I've called the Doctor, and he'll be here in an hour."

"He's going to take her home, then?" Gwen asked, with ill-concealed relief in her voice and face.

Jack shook his head.

"No, he's not. Eleya _is_ home."

Startled looks were shared around the room.

"Then Eleya…" Alex started to say.

"She is my daughter," Jack said. "The test results confirmed it."

"Well, then," Gwen said. "I suppose the next step will be to find her mother."

Owen, who had just been in the middle of taking a mouthful of coffee, choked and nearly sprayed it across the table.

"I'm getting the feeling that this situation is a little more complex than that, Gwen," Bobby said, his gaze fixed on Jack.

"Yes, thankyou, I'm aware of that, Bobby," Gwen snapped back impatiently. "She fell through the rift, and her mother could be anywhere."  
"She doesn't have a mother, Gwen," Jack interrupted quietly. Startled looks met Jack's statement.

"You mean she's dead?" Tosh asked tentatively. Jack was starting to look a little on the pale side.

"No, I don't mean that she's dead. I mean that she doesn't have a mother. No woman gave birth to her."

"She must have..." Gwen started to argue, only to be brought up short, her eyes going wide as realisation dawned. "Oh my god... You can't be serious!"

"What?" Alex asked in confusion. "Serious about what?"

Jack took a few seconds to scan the room. Ianto's expression radiated support, while Owen looks mildly exasperated — although Jack was fairly positive that it was directed primarily at Gwen. For her part, Gwen looked shocked and horrified, while Bobby, Alex and Tosh looked confused. The Captain sighed audibly. Time to come clean.

"Eleya doesn't have a biological mother, because I'm the one who carried her and gave birth to her."

The silence that met his admission was profound. Then, unexpectedly, Bobby grinned in delight.

"She really is yours, in every way. That's brilliant, Jack. It really is."

"I wouldn't say it's brilliant," Gwen started to say, only to be cut off by Owen, who by then was sounding distinctly peeved.

"Bloody hell, Gwen, will you shut up? I don't know what your problem is, but Bobby is right. Jack has his little girl back after who knows how long, and yes. She is his in every way, so just... leave it, all right."

"All right, Owen," Jack murmured. He was grateful for the young medic's support, but at the same time, neither did he want to see conflict between his team. He didn't know what Gwen's problem with Eleya was, but it was just going to have to wait.

"The Doctor is coming," he repeated. He spoke slowly, and with a forced calm. "He'll be here in less than an hour, and I'm hoping he'll be able to help me out."

"In what way?" Tosh asked in confusion. Jack took a moment to consider his words before continuing on.

"You all know that I used to be part of the Time Agency."

"In the fifty-first century," Ianto clarified.

"Right. What not all of you know is that the reason I left the Agency was because I woke up one morning to discover they'd wiped two years of my life from my memory."

"You'd been ret-conned?" Gwen asked in shock.

"Basically," Jack conceded. "The Time Agency's method was a little more complex than slipping a pill into someone's drink, but the basics are the same. I spent the next hundred plus years not knowing what I'd done that ws so bad that they'd wipe my mind. Now, I'm wondering whether I did anything wrong at all. And now I know at least partly what they took from me when they took my memories."

"The memory of your own child," Bobby said sombrely.

"Yes. But my problem remains that I still have no memory of her. Getting her back wasn't enough to trigger my memories. I need something more."

Abruptly, Alex spoke up in astonished realisation.

"The necklace!"

A warm smile lit up Jack's face. He was more and more grateful to Ianto for convincing him that Alex would be as much of a benefit to Torchwood as Bobby.

"Right," he confirmed. "The necklace is a trigger, one that I think I set up for myself. I must have known, or at least suspected what the Agency was going to do, and I tried to circumvent them. I want to use the necklace to try and get my memories back, but there is a risk that it could send me into psychic shock."

"Jack, you can't!" Gwen burst out, speaking up for the first time since Owen had growled at her. He silenced her with a stern look.

"I have to, for both mine and Eleya's sakes. That's why I need the Doctor to come. When I use the necklace, I want it to be in a completely safe environment. The only place I know of that's completely safe is the TARDIS."

"This is insane," Gwen argued. "Jack, you can't put yourself at risk like that! It's crazy! We need you to be here, now! Not swanning off to try and recover some hundred plus year old memories!"

"Exactly what is your problem, Gwen?" Owen snapped, rounding on her angrily. "You've been out of sorts ever since that little girl started calling Jack daddy. Is that it? You're jealous? Bloody hell, Cooper! She's just a baby!"

Gwen flushed with anger, but said nothing. She was acutely aware of her team mates watching her, and glared right back at them defiantly, daring them to speak. None of them did, except for Bobby, who started to speak but was cut off abruptly by Alex's elbow in his side.

Jack looked at them both quizzically, but didn't push for an explanation, and neither did they offer one.

"This is my life," he said quietly. "They're my memories, and after more than a hundred years of not knowing, I think I'm entitled to take a chance for my own benefit."

"Jack," Ianto said in a quiet, but no less forceful tone, "after more than one hundred years, that's the very least that you're owed. None of us have the right to call you on showing a bit of self-concern."

"Personally," Owen spoke up, "I'd feel a lot happier having you here in the Hub, so I can monitor you, but I understand. I'm just glad that you're at least taking your own safety and well-being into consideration for once."

"Thankyou," Jack murmured sincerely.

"Do you have any idea how long it might take?" Bobby asked. "This process... However it works. Hours? Days?"

Jack grimaced. He hoped it wouldn't put him out of commission for more than a few hours at the most, but he also knew the reality. This was two years' worth of memories, and it simply wasn't going to come back quickly and easily.

"I'd say expect to be without me for anywhere up to forty-eight hours... maybe longer."

A murmur swept across the team, but Jack was relieved to find the only one looking disgruntled was Gwen. His gaze went to Bobby and Alex, and he felt a sharp twinge of guilt.

"I'm sorry, this isn't what I'd planned for your first couple of weeks."

"Don't apologize, Jack," Alex told him. "Seriously, these are your memories we're talking about. Your life. I don't care how long you've lived. Two years is too much to just brush off as irretrievable."

Bobby nodded his agreement.

"You deserve to have this chance to get your memories back, and you're right in wanting to be in the safest possible environment. I don't fault you for choosing the TARDIS."

The gratitude on Jack's face was palpable, and when he spoke again, he deliberately avoided looking at Gwen.

"Thankyou. I appreciate the support."

"All right," Gwen spoke up again, sounding unhappy, but nonetheless reigned to what was going to happen. "We need to work out how this place will be run while you're... indisposed. I assume you'll keep Eleya with you?"

"Yes," Jack confirmed. "And Ianto, too."

While Tosh and Owen in particular looked none too surprised at that revelation, Gwen uttered a cry of protest.

"Jack, we need him here!"

"You survived with just the three of you for three months while we established the New York base," Ianto reminded her. "Now, you have Bobby and Alex. They're competent and quick learners, and the Doctor will be here if anything major crops up."

"Assuming the Doctor is willing to help," Gwen added.

"He will be," Ianto said flatly. "I don't intend on giving him a choice."

Jack raised an eyebrow in Ianto's direction, but said nothing. He never had a chance, for suddenly the distinct grinding sound of the TARDIS' engines reverberated through the Hub."

"Isn't he…?" Ianto started to say.

"Early," Jack concluded for him, frowning in agitation. "Typical. Never on time when I need him, except when he thinks I've done something wrong. And then he turns up early." Sighing, Jack rose to his feet and passed Eleya over to Ianto's waiting arms. "Everyone, stay here. Let me go and speak to him first."

"Dada…" Eleya called after him, sounding confused and a little bit worried. Jack smiled at her as reassuringly as he could. "Stay with Anno, baby. I won't be long."

He turned and hurried out, leaving Ianto to mind the little girl. She sat on Ianto's knee for a few excruciatingly long seconds, looking as though she wanted to cry. Finally, though, she shifted around and snuggled in against Ianto, humming in contentment.

"Looks like she's taken to you, too," Alex remarked with a smile. Ianto returned her smile as he wrapped his arms comfortably around Eleya.

"She's a beautiful little girl. I just hope she hasn't inherited any of Jack's less attractive qualities."

Eleya giggled softly, gripping his shirt in her little hands.

"Tad…"

Ianto rolled his eyes, while Gwen started in surprise.

"She didn't just call you Tad, did she?"

"Yes," Ianto confirmed, "and you can blame Jack for that. He thought it was cute. Although… I have to confess, I'm flattered."

"Tad is Welsh for Dad?" Bobby queried.

"Yes, it is," Gwen confirmed. "Ianto, is it really wise to let her call you that?"

Ianto looked up at her piercingly.

"Would you care to share exactly what your problem is, Gwen? Your attitude is starting to aggravate everyone, and Jack especially."

She stared back at him, but she proved to be no match for him and eventually had to drop her gaze.

"Later, then," Ianto murmured, and although he'd spoken softly, his tone warned her that they would be discussing the situation later, whether she liked it or not.

"Do you think Jack is all right out there?" Owen asked of no one in particular. In answer, Tosh got up and ventured over to the door. Beyond the glass, she could see Jack down in the central part of the Hub with the Doctor. It seemed that the Doctor was doing most of the talking, whilst Jack stood stoically, with his shoulders squared and jaw clenched. By all appearances, the Doctor seemed angry, and he appeared to be yelling at the Captain.

"I don't think it's going very well," Tosh murmured worriedly. She hesitated, and then risked opening the door a fraction, allowing the Doctor's voice to reach them.

"…should have known better than to trust you, Captain! I thought you'd changed for the better, but obviously I was wrong! What in the name of Rassilon were you thinking, allowing a child into this forsaken place? Damn it, Jack, I thought better of you! How could you?"

Jack drew in a shaky breath. He'd known the Doctor was angry, but this was the full force of the Oncoming Storm being directed straight at him, and it a frightening experience, even for him.

"Doctor…"

"No!" the Doctor snapped, cutting Jack off harshly. "No, you don't get to speak, Captain. Not this time. There is nothing, not a thing that you could possibly say to rectify this. It's times like this that make me think I did the right thing abandoning you on Satellite Five! This is wrong… You're wrong!"

Jack flinched, as though the Doctor had physically struck him, and he found himself having to fight hard to suppress tears. Of all the things the Doctor could have said to him, that was quite possibly the thing that hurt the most. He swallowed hard against the painful lump that had suddenly developed in his throat, only to find that he couldn't.

"No second chances, Captain," the Doctor said in a menacing whisper, "and I've given you several. No more. This is the last straw."

Before Jack had a chance to learn just what the Doctor was planning to do, a wordless wail reached their ears. Both men looked around in surprise to see Eleya toddling her way down the stairs from the boardroom as fast as her little legs would allow her. Ianto was close behind, but she'd reached the bottom before he could grab her. As they watched, she ran around the pathway towards Jack and the Doctor. She ran past Jack, up to the Doctor, and slammed her little hands into his abdomen as hard as she could. With the added kick of her psychic talent, the Doctor grunted in pained surprise as he reeled backwards, and slammed hard into the closed door of the TARDIS behind him.

The Time Lord staggered against TARDIS, staring at the enraged child in wide-eyed astonishment. Jack, meanwhile, swooped in and picked her up before she could launch a renewed assault.

"Bad!" Eleya wailed, wrapping her arms around Jack's neck in a strangling grip. "Urra ma Dada!"

"No, I'm okay, baby," Jack murmured, cradling her to him. "I'm fine. He didn't hurt me, I promise."

Slowly, the Doctor regained his equilibrium, and straightened up again. "Jack?"

It was said in the same tone that the Doctor had used not so long ago to garner a response from the Captain over whether or not he had a death wish. Jack looked back at the Doctor grimly.

"As I was trying to say before you went all Oncoming Storm on me, there is a very good explanation as to why there's a child in the Hub. I'd like you to meet Eleya Harkness. She's my daughter."

Slowly, the Doctor walked forward, his gaze fixed intently on the child in Jack's arms. She watched him approach with a mixture of fear and suspicion, and the closer he got, the tighter her grip around Jack's neck became.

"Baby, ease up," Jack said finally, hoarsely. "You're kinda choking Dada."

Eleya whimpered, but loosened her grip just a little.

"How can she be your daughter?" the Doctor asked with a frown, only to carry on without missing a beat. "Well, of course I know how she could be yours. And I suppose with the amount of dancing you've done around the universe, it's entirely likely that a child was bound to pop up somewhere along your timeline. In fact, I'm a little surprised that it's only the one…"

"Hey!" Jack growled, unappreciative of the insinuation. The Doctor was completely unapologetic.

"It's your own fault that you've got the reputation that you do, Jack. But first thing's first. You're positive she's yours?"

Jack looked back over his shoulder at his team and, in particular, at Owen. "Yes," he answered finally. "We're positive."

The Doctor sighed a little. "All right. You'd best tell me everything, from the beginning."

"Fine," Jack conceded. "As long as you promise to actually listen to me?"

The indignant look on the Doctor's face would have made Jack laugh, had the situation been any different. Instead, he walked over to the conglomeration of sofas and armchairs in the rec area, and settled himself down with Eleya comfortably ensconced on his lap. Ianto pointedly sat beside him, and the rest of them took up the remaining seats. Jack went on to tell the story as it stood so far, from the rift alert of the previous morning, to finding Eleya, and eventually to learning that she was, indeed, Jack's daughter.

When Jack reached the piece of news about exactly who had carried Eleya and given birth to her, though, the Doctor showed no astonishment.

"The two years the Time Agency stole from you," he guessed immediately. His gaze was both thoughtful and sorrowful.

Jack nodded. "That's what I think, too. I know Eleya is mine, Doctor. I can accept that. But I don't remember her, and I want to. Doctor, I want to remember my little girl."

The Doctor looked up slowly to Jack, from where his eyes had been fixed on Eleya. She had returned his gaze easily, no longer fearful but curious.

"You have an idea."

It was no question, and Jack didn't attempt to mince words. "Yes. The day before Eleya came through the rift, there was a box that we found down in the sewers. It had a psychic lock, and we couldn't get it open. Eleya opened it."

"The box belonged to her?" the Doctor wondered.

"It must have. All it had in it, though, was a necklace. When I tried to hold it, I was bombarded with images and memories… It ended up knocking me out cold."

The Doctor's eyes lit up as he quickly caught on to what Jack was implying. "A psychic trigger! Jack, you're brilliant!"

"And this is where we need your help," Jack went on. "I want to use the necklace to try and recover my memories, but I need to be somewhere safe, because I don't know what's going to happen. I… I want to be in the TARDIS."

The Doctor stared at him in surprise before a soft smile settled across his features.

"Quite right, too. Yes, you shall stay in the TARDIS, and we'll finally get those memories of yours back for you."

"We have a proviso," Ianto stated quietly. He reached out surreptitiously and closed his hand over Jack's as he spoke, squeezing gently. "We would appreciate it if you would stay here for the duration, and not disappear into the vortex."

"We could use your help, see, while Jack's… indisposed," Tosh added quickly. The Doctor looked around at each of them slowly before returning his gaze to Jack.

"Very well. Jack shall remain in the TARDIS, where she and I can monitor him, and the TARDIS shall remain here in your Hub. Fair enough?"

His question was met with a bevy nodding heads. The Doctor then turned his attention back to Jack.

"Shall we get started, then?"

* * *

_to be continued..._  



	13. Into The TARDIS

"Do you know which race she belongs to?" the Doctor asked as he followed Jack into the Captain's office a few minutes later.

"Actually, I was hoping you could answer that question," Jack admitted. He sat Eleya down on the couch before flopping down into his own chair. "All I know is that she's a pretty powerful psychic. She... She killed someone, Doctor."

The Doctor looked from Jack to Eleya, eyebrow raised.

"Really."

"It wasn't deliberate on her part," Jack defended his daughter. "At least, not in a premeditated sense. Bobby thinks the man grabbed her, and maybe even hit her. She was scared, she'd just arrived through the rift, and I think she just reacted in self-defence. Everything we've managed to get out of her suggests that there were some pretty nasty people after her, and if those nasty people happen to be the Time Agency, then I can't blame her for it at all. They're ruthless, Doctor. You know it as well as I do."

"Yes, I do," the Doctor agreed sombrely. "Well, fair enough. We'll assume it was self-defence. Tell me, though, what abilities has she displayed?"

"Telekinesis, for one. She's a very strong telekinetic. Then, there's whatever she did to that man in the mall."

"Is that all?" the Doctor wondered.

"No," Jack answered. "She can heal, Doctor. I had a bad headache, and she took the pain away, completely."

Curiosity filled the Doctor's face, and he turned to look at Eleya.

"Hello there, sweetheart. Mind if I come over there and talk to you for a minute?"

Eleya looked uncertainly to Jack, who smiled reassuringly at her.

"It's okay, baby. He won't hurt you."

The Doctor shifted across to sit beside her, and smiled gently at the little girl.

"Hello, there. I'm the Doctor. I'm a friend of your daddy." He paused, considering that. "Never quite pictured you as a daddy, Jack."

Jack smiled ruefully.

"Nice to know I can still surprise you."

The Doctor flashed him a brief grin before returning his attention to Eleya.

"Now, sweetheart just hold still. I promise you, this isn't going to hurt."

He lifted his sonic screwdriver and scanned Eleya with it, frowning as he did so. Eleya sat quietly, much to Jack's relief, seemingly entranced by the device.

"She's Mendyrian," the Doctor announced finally, sitting back with a frown. "Your daughter is half Mendyrian, Jack."

He looked up at the Captain, and was greeted with a puzzled look.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, I don't see what's wrong. The Mendyrians are supposed to be a peaceful race, aren't they?"

"Oh yes, extremely so, but Mendyr is a closed planet, Jack. No one comes or goes from there, ever. I wasn't even allowed to enter their atmosphere in the TARDIS, the one time I tried to visit."

Jack's eyebrows went up in astonishment.

"They were able to keep you out? How?"

The Doctor looked annoyed, much to Jack's amusement.

"I was never able to work that out, as a matter of fact. The point is, they're obsessive about keeping their race pure, so what I want to know is how you ended up having a child with Mendyrian blood in her veins."

The softest of sighs escaped Jack's lips.

"You and me both, Doctor."

The Doctor looked back to Eleya, and smiled when he saw her attention was still on the sonic screwdriver.

"You like that, do you?"

Eleya looked up at him and smiled tentatively.

"Piiya."

"Piiya?" the Doctor echoed, puzzled.

"She said it's pretty," Jack clarified. "She's talking in a hybrid dialect of fifty-first century Commonspeak, and something else that I couldn't identify. I suppose it might be Mendyrian, though I don't know for sure."

"But you do understand her?"

"Yes, I do," Jack confirmed.

"Strange," the Doctor mused. "The TARDIS isn't translating her for us."

"Maybe because I understand her," Jack suggested, and the Doctor nodded thoughtfully, although his expression suggested that he didn't quite accept that as an explanation.

"Mm. Maybe."

Eleya finally looked away from the Doctor, back to Jack, and gave him a pleading look that he couldn't resist.

"Dada?"

Jack smiled faintly, and got up to join them on the couch. Eleya squealed in delight, and climbed eagerly into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"She certainly loves you, Captain," the Doctor mused.

"I love her," Jack answered, smiling down at her with affection. "I just wish she could tell me what happened to her." He paused, taking in the look on the Time Lord's face before speaking tersely. "And no, you're not going to go tripping through her mind, so don't even think about it."

"Oi!" the Doctor exclaimed indignantly. "I don't trip! And anyway, your mind is the priority here. We need to get your memories back, and see if we can find out how this little one came to be."

As the Doctor moved to stand, Jack couldn't resist teasing him a little.

"Now, Doctor, if you don't know that, then maybe you should have taken me up on that offer of a dance back in your previous regeneration. I would have happily thrown in a lesson on the birds and the bees, no extra charge."

The Doctor smirked right back at the Captain.

"Why? You never did buy me that drink."

Jack chuckled softly as he stood up and lifted Eleya up in his arms.

"Sorry I can't oblige now, but I won't betray Ianto."

"Fidelity from the intergalactic playboy?" the Doctor asked in mock astonishment, though the sparkle in his eyes took any sting out of his words. "Your young man must be something special."

"He is," Jack confirmed. "You should know that already, Doctor."

A genuine smile graced the Doctor's face.

"Oh, I do. I do know it. You're a lucky man, Captain. Now, let's go and have a look at this pendant, shall we?"

* * *

The silence in the Hub was almost deafening in its intensity as the Doctor examined the pendant. He hummed, oohed and aahed as he peered at it from every conceivable angle before finally returning his attention to Jack.

"It's just an ordinary necklace in itself, Jack, but there does seem to be a fairly high level of psychic energy surrounding it."

"Meaning?" Jack pressed.

"Meaning you suspected what was coming, and took measures to counteract it. It is definitely a psychic trigger. Very clever indeed, Jack. I'm just sorry it's taken so long for us to come to this point."

Jack shook his head, dismissing the apology.

"All that matters is that I have a way to get my memories back."

"Oh yes, at least two years' worth of memories are embedded here. The only question now is when do you want to try?"

"As soon as possible," Jack admitted. "And Doctor… Thankyou for letting me stay in the TARDIS."

The Doctor lifted an eyebrow in his direction.

"I wouldn't have allowed it to be anywhere else, for your own sake, Jack. This is two years' worth of memories here. There's no way of knowing what's going to be uncovered. The TARDIS is the safest place for you to be."

* * *

The next half hour was spent preparing for Jack to be absent from the Hub, along with Ianto. The Captain appointed Owen to run the place in the interim, a move which further seemed to aggravate Gwen. To her credit, though, she didn't argue with the decision.

Ianto had just finished showing Alex how to use the coffee machine, and had retreated to the locker room to put together a few personal necessities. He didn't care how wonderful Jack proclaimed the TARDIS to be; he was not going without a spare suit, and he doubted the sentient ship could supply one in his exact fittings. He sensed he was no longer alone seconds before Gwen actually spoke, and was grateful to be able to avoid showing any surprise at her sudden appearance behind him.

"Gwen," he greeted her in as civil a tone as he could manage. He was still annoyed with her over her attitude towards Eleya, and he strongly suspected that she had come to try and talk him out of accompanying Jack into the TARDIS. If that was the case, then she was wasting her breath and he had no problem telling her so. He stared down at her intently, waiting to hear her out.

"Look," she said quietly, "about earlier. I still think it's mad for you to be out of action as well as Jack…"

"Gwen…"

"No, please, Ianto. Just hear me out."

He fell silent, his jaw tight with increasing aggravation. She went on quickly, aware that his patience was rapidly wearing thin.

"I don't agree with it," she went on, "but I do understand you."

"Do you, Gwen? Because lately, it doesn't seem to me that you really do."

"He needs you," she stated bluntly, and he blinked in surprise. A part of him waited for her to add some self-centric comment, but none of was forthcoming. Gwen continued to speak, apparently oblivious to Ianto's surprise. "I do understand that, despite what everyone else probably thinks, and I know it's important for you to be there with him… for him."

"But you'd prefer it to be you in that role," Ianto stated, and then promptly wanted to kick himself for the insensitive and unnecessary remark. Gwen reddened visibly at the blunt accusation, but didn't dispute it.

"Well, it's not, and it was never going to be," she conceded. "He loves all of us, but you most of all. I can't begrudge either of you that. Look, Ianto, all I'm trying to say is look after him, please, because God knows he doesn't always do a good job of looking after himself."

Ianto's anger melted away as quickly as it had built up. He knew that was one hell of a concession for her to make, and he needed to acknowledge it with grace. However, it still concerned him that so far the conversation had only revolved around Jack.

"And what about Eleya, Gwen?" he asked. "Can you accept that she's here to stay?"

Despite her best efforts, Gwen could not stop the frown that darkened her features. Ianto ceased what he was doing and turned to face her directly.

"All right. We're alone, and there's no one listening in. Will you please tell me just what it is that you've got against Eleya? Because Owen was quite right. You were fine with her until it became clear that she had a connection to Jack. And once we knew for sure that she was his daughter, you were all for getting rid of her as soon as possible. So tell me, Gwen. What's the problem?"

Gwen drew in a shuddering breath, and all of a sudden she couldn't look him in the eye.

"Rhys and I want a baby."

"Yes, I gathered that from your reasoning over why Eleya should have stayed with your. Go on."

"We've been trying to nearly five months," she admitted unhappily, and realisation began to dawn on Ianto.

"I see."

She did look back at him, then, and he could clearly see the tears threatening in her eyes. Genuine tears this time, he mused with sympathy, born of genuine misery.

"I don't have anything against Eleya, Ianto, I swear it. It's just that, here Jack is with this ready-made family, and it just doesn't seem fair!"

For a split second, Ianto was torn between wanting to slap Gwen, and wanting to hug her. In the end, he set aside his aggravation and did the latter.

"No, I suppose it doesn't seem fair to you, but you're being rather presumptuous in assuming that this is all easy for Jack."

She drew back a little from him, and he wasn't entirely surprised to see confusion on her face.

"Why? What do you mean?"

Ianto sighed and, not for the first time, wondered how someone who was supposed to have so much compassion for others could be so oblivious to what was right in front of her face.

"Gwen, none of us… not even Jack… can guess what memories are going to be uncovered. We have no way of knowing how they'll affect him. You're probably picturing a stereotypical scenario where Jack was in a loving relationship that resulted in his pregnancy."

The confusion on Gwen's face morphed into a frown.

"What's wrong with that? For all we know…"

"Gwen," Ianto cut her off in a quiet but firm voice. "Something traumatic caused them to be separated, and Jack had two years of his memory taken from him because of it, most likely by force. So don't stand there claiming that any of this is easy for Jack, because it's not."

He very nearly found himself adding that she had no idea just how scared Jack really was over learning what had happened in those missing two years, and managed to stop himself just in time. That was something private between Jack and himself, and whilst Ianto didn't believe Jack had any need to hide his vulnerabilities from the rest of the team, neither was it any of Gwen's business. It was as simple as that.

She was looking at him uncertainly now, as if she didn't quite know whether to take him seriously. There was no hint of amusement in his expression, though.

"You really think it could be bad, don't you?" she asked.

He sighed again at her incredulity.

"Yes, Gwen. I do."

"Then why are you letting him do it? For God's sake, Ianto…"

"Do you really believe we have a right to stop him?" he demanded, suddenly angry with her. "Well, we don't. Just as Alex said before, two years worth of memories is too much to disregard. Jack is the one with the rights here, Gwen. He has the right to know what happened in his life that led to him having that beautiful little girl, and how he came to be separated from her. We all have the responsibility now to make sure that Jack and Eleya are protected while Jack goes through this, and that everything stays running smoothly. Is that clear enough for you?"

To Ianto's own incredulity, though, she continued to argue with him.

"Ianto, he's the one who's always talked about the bigger picture! He's turning his back on his responsibilities here… his responsibilities to us!"

"And you're the one who always argues that people have a right to know the truth about what's happened in their lives," Ianto snapped. "Why is Jack suddenly the exception to your rule?"

Gwen fell very abruptly silent, and a deep blush crept across her face as it sunk in just how hypocritical she was being. Ianto paused to take a long, calming breath before speaking again.

"You think of yourself as the heart and soul of the team, because that's how Jack has always seen you. How about you start trying to live up to that?"

Thoroughly chastened, Gwen started to leave, but then turned back to regard Ianto wonderingly.

"You've changed. You used to be so timid and quiet…"

"Are you saying you miss the old me?" Ianto asked wryly, and Gwen managed a weak smile.

"No… No, it's just that… Well, being with Jack has really brought you out of your shell. I said it once to Tosh, and I'll say it to you as well. Being in love suits you."

And then she was gone, exiting the locker room as quickly as she could with what little scrap of dignity she still had. Ianto watched her go with a sense of bemusement before hurrying to finish what he was doing, and go to join Jack and Eleya in the TARDIS.

* * *

Jack had fully expected to be led straight to the med room, and he was pleasantly surprised when that proved not to be the case. His surprise turned into full-blown astonishment, though, when the Doctor led him into a large, comfortably furnished suite, complete with three beds and enough books, toys and games to keep any child occupied.

"Three beds?" Jack asked, not even attempting to hide his amusement. "Are you trying to tell me something, Doctor?"

The Doctor frowned at him, unimpressed.

"For starters, the TARDIS did the furnishing. Not me. And secondly, don't you think you ought to spare your daughter that confusion, Captain? She might not be able to understand why her daddy is sharing a bed with a strange man."

Jack's expression tightened and he turned to Eleya, who was sitting almost gleefully on a toddler-sized bed that was resplendent with teddy bear patterned duvet.

"Eleya, sweetheart, do you like Anno?"

"Anno?" the Doctor queried, and Jack shrugged.

"She couldn't get her tongue around 'Ianto', so she started calling him Anno instead."

"Mu bai!" Eleya stated loudly in answer to Jack's question. Then, she also answered in halting English. "Love Anno. My Tad. Dada and Tad mwah!"

There was no mistaking what was meant by the 'mwah', and Jack looked back at the Doctor with a single eyebrow raised.

"Do you think she's confused, Doctor? Because from where I'm standing, she doesn't seem confused at all."

"Oh, all right," the Doctor growled. "But you're still not getting one bed between you. I don't think your young man will appreciate being hit or kicked, or any of those sorts of physical reactions you may have during the process."

That sobered Jack up quickly, and he sighed in resignation.

"Point taken. Speaking of which, I thought you would have put me in the med room."

At that, the Doctor's expression softened.

"Jack, your being in the TARDIS isn't just about being safe. You need to be completely at ease, too. The med room is hardly the place to be perfectly comfortable, and this may be traumatic enough for you without your environment adding to the stress."

"Thankyou," Jack murmured sincerely, grateful for consideration of something that had honestly not occurred to him.

"Now, where is Mr Jones?" the Doctor asked.

"Right here," Ianto announced as he walked into the room. Before either the Doctor or Jack had a chance to respond, Eleya slid off the bed and ran to him, squealing delightedly when he swung her up into his arms. With a pointed look at the Doctor, Jack strolled over to Ianto and, with Eleya still in the Welshman's arms, captured his lips in a prolonged and indulgent kiss.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Point clearly made – the look on Eleya's face as the two men kissed was one of absolute and unmistakable delight.

"What was that for?" Ianto wondered when they finally parted. Jack smiled somewhat sheepishly.

"No reason."

When Ianto looked sceptical, Jack put on his best pout.

"Can't I just kiss you because I feel like it?"

Ianto chuckled and returned the kiss briefly.

"Of course you can. You just rarely do anything without a motive of some description."

Jack tried to look offended, but it was hard to maintain when Ianto kissed him again, more deeply that time. It wasn't until the Doctor coughed that they finally separated.

"Ready then, Captain?"

"As I'll ever be," Jack muttered, suddenly sounding less than enthusiastic. Ianto said nothing. Gwen would surely have taken the opportunity to tell him that he didn't have to go through with it at all, but that wasn't what Jack needed to hear.

"It's all right to be scared," the Doctor said quietly. "You don't know what you'll learn. It's understandable."

Jack let his breath out in a rush.

"I am scared," he admitted. "But I'm anxious, too. I want to do this. I have to know the truth."

"Then lie down," the Doctor encouraged him, "and we'll get started. And you'll need to open up your shirt, as well, and no lewd remarks thankyou very much. The pendant needs to be touching bare flesh."

"Just a moment," Jack said, deliberately ignoring the comments about lewd remarks. "I need to talk to Eleya."

Ianto willingly passed her to Jack, who sat down with her on his lap.

"Eleya, I need you to listen closely to me, baby. Dada has to do something very important, now. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I promise you that I'll be okay. I want you to be a brave girl, and do what Anno says, okay?"

Eleya responded by stretching up and kissing him on the cheek. She then turned to Ianto with a bright smile, and stretched her arms out to him to be picked up. He did so without hesitation, and Eleya wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed happily.

"My Tad."

"Honestly, Jack," Ianto said with a roll of his eyes, but the smile on his face gave away the very real pleasure he felt. Jack smiled and shrugged again.

"She's made the choice to call you that She doesn't have an issue with having two dads."

"She's just a baby, Jack," Ianto reminded him gently. "Let's not worry about this right now, though. Let's just get this show on the road before Gwen thinks of another reason to try and stop you."

Try as he might, Ianto couldn't quite keep his tone free of the irritation he was currently feeling towards his colleague. Jack's eyebrows show up as he lay down on the bed, wriggling a little to get comfortable.

"We'll definitely be talking about that later. Okay, Doctor. I'm ready."

The Doctor sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Close your eyes, then, and relax. Open your mind."

Jack shifted again, and then sighed softly. As they watched, his body visibly relaxed on the bed, his breathing evened out and the tension bled out of his face. The Doctor reached across and laid his palm lightly over Jack's forehead, closing his own eyes as he did so.

"That's it, Jack. Let go of those defences."

Jack's hands, which had been laced fairly loosely across his stomach, now slipped to land by his sides.

"Good," the Doctor murmured, finally withdrawing his hand. "If you're a religious man, Mr Jones, now would be a good time to say a prayer. This is one of the danger points. The initial shock could prove to be too much, and cause his mind to just shut down."

"Psychic shock, leading to coma?" Ianto queried worriedly, and the Doctor nodded.

"That's one possibility. I gather you talked about it fairly thoroughly?"

"Jack did warn us about what might happen," Ianto admitted. "We all agreed, though… or rather, most of us agreed that he needs to do this. He deserves the chance to know what happened in those two years. So go ahead, Doctor. Do what you need to do."

"All right, then."

Bringing out the pendant, the Doctor looped it carefully over Jack's head and laid the gemstone on the warm flesh of Jack's chest.

Ianto wasn't entirely sure what he'd expected – convulsions or some other dramatic reaction, perhaps, as soon as the pendant touched Jack's flesh, and he felt angry with himself for the brief flash of disappointment he'd felt when nothing of the sort happened. There was the faintest of shudders that rippled through Jack's body, and then he settled once more into what, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be a very deep sleep.

The Doctor shifted off the bed and moved back, speaking quietly.

"All we can do now is watch, and wait."

* * *

_to be continued..._


	14. Interlude One: The Time Agency

_For a little while, Jack just floated. He was not quite asleep, but nor was he by any means awake. He was just there. His mind was a blank slate, and he realised without any real alarm that he couldn't even clearly recall his own name. He almost smiled at that. Well, when a guy had a different identity nearly ever week, was it all that surprising that he sometimes had trouble recalling his current identity?_

_It was dark, and he wondered about that briefly until it occurred to him that his eyes were closed. More so out of curiosity that anything else, he slowly opened his eyes._

_Jack blinked. He knew this room. It was his room at the Time Agency station on Vila Three. The room that he shared with..._

_"Bloody hell, will you get your lazy arse out of bed?"_

_He looked to find himself staring up in the familiar and distinctly annoyed face of his partner, and tried for a sexy grin. From the expression on John's face, it wasn't working.F_

_"Get up now, or I'm getting the iced water."_

_"What, no good morning kiss?" Jack asked with a pout. John sneered back at him._

_"Not with your morning breath. Go brush your teeth, and I might consider it."_

_All else momentarily forgotten, including that odd sense of unease, Jack abandoned the warmth of the bed, and made for the bedroom._

_"I hope you're ready," John said from the doorway of the little room. Jack found himself responding automatically, fast becoming bound within the flux of his memories._

_"Are you kidding me? We've spent the last months chasing our tails, looking for the bastard responsible for the time shifts and manipulations. Now we've finally got a solid lead? I am ready like you wouldn't believe, baby!"_

_In the midst of his excitement, Jack managed to spray toothpaste everywhere, attracting an irritated glare from his lover._

_"This is why I'm the wife. You're a slob."_

_Jack grinned and quickly rinsed his mouth out before stalking up to his lover._

_"But you love me anyway. Now, where's that kiss you promised me...?"_

_

* * *

__The memory faded out, and a new one took its place.__

* * *

__...Time Agency Headquarters, Debriefing Room Nine. Jack always felt like a naughty schoolboy in this room. Technology developed over centuries, and they still couldn't do better than eighteenth century Earth-style school desks. It never failed to amuse Jack, and the scenario almost always made him horny as hell. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd snuck into one of these rooms with someone to play out a fantasy or several._

_The sharp sound of hands slamming down on the desk startled him back to reality, and he offered the senior agent as sexy a grin as he could summon. It was met with a dark glare, and a twinkle in the eye._

_"Pay attention, Agent. If you make me punish you, I guarantee you'll regret it."_

_Jack licked his lips and grinned at the thought. The last time he'd been punished, his arse had hurt for a week, and not just from the caning he'd been given. It was not an entirely unpleasant thought. All the same, there was serious business at hand, and he really did need to listen._

_Someone – or someones – in the Delta-Ro Quadrant had been triggering a series of illegal time shifts and vortex manipulations for more than three months, now, and a number of individuals wanted for various crimes had vanished without a trace. Somebody was running a very profitable business, it seemed, but they also ran the risk of ripping open the fabric of space and time itself in the process. After hitting one dead end after another, they finally had a solid tip leading them to where the disturbances were originating from, and both he and his partner were eager to get moving and see their investigation through._

_He settled down again and listened as the senior agent briefed them on the plan of action, and he didn't miss the resentful look on John's face when they were told they would be joining the squad of agency soldiers, rather than the lead team of agents. He disliked it himself, but John was more likely to actively want to do something about it. He wasn't wrong._

_"We did the fucking leg work here," John ranted as they headed towards the assembly room where they would be kitted out for the operation. "But do we get the glory we rightly deserve? No! Fucking Jaydn gets to run the show! You know she's after another promotion? Seriously, mate, I'm tempted to fuck this up just out of spite."_

_"I'm pissed, too," Jack conceded. "But what can we do? And I'm not going to deliberately screw up the operation just because I feel slighted. We both did too much work on this to do that. Besides, the most important thing here is stopping the guy who's doing this. Not advancing our careers."_

_The words were barely out of his mouth before John exploded into gales of laughter, and Jack grimaced in discomfort and irritation. He probably should have known better than to throw a line like that at the guy he'd spent stuck with in a five year-long time loop._

_"Bullshit! You wanted control of this just as much as I did, and don't you bloody deny it!"_

_Jack considered arguing for all of five seconds before deciding that it wasn't worth the aggravation. Not to mention, the son of a bitch was right._

_"I'm not saying that. All I'm trying to say is that we need to have our priorities straight. This isn't about us."_

_And, even as he said the words, he knew full well that he didn't believe them. Judging by the look on John's face, the other man knew it, too. And, going by the devious glint in his eyes, he was about to make a suggestion that both of them would be sorry for later._

_"Let's take a ship, and get there first!"_

_Simple, logical and beyond stupid. He was wavering, though. John spotted it and, like a tiger sensing weakness in its prey, pounced._

_"C'mon! We know the background, we know everything we need to know! We can do this on our own! You know we can! Let's get the jump on all of them. You and me, together. Let's show these pompous arsewipes what we can do."_

_It should have disturbed Jack with how easy it was to ignore that little voice in the back of his mind that was telling him not to be a bloody idiot. In his usual fashion, though, he barely spared it a thought, though. By the time they'd slipped off and stolen an agency ship and were on their way to the Planet Gleb in the Delta-Ro Quadrant, that voice had been very thoroughly silenced..._

_

* * *

__...Jack had always known that when John had ideas, they usually ended up in trouble. It was how they'd wound up caught up in that damned time loop. He had always known that one day, following John's lunatic plans would land him in very real and extreme jeopardy. However, the one thing that kept him from having his lover committed was the solid belief that that day was still a long way off._

_Jack was wrong, and he had plenty of time to reflect on how wrong he was whilst suspended six feet off the floor and pinned to the wall by a man whose psychic powers were unlike anything Jack had ever known. He had plenty of time while their target-turned-assailant threw John around like a rag doll without laying a single finger on him._

_He had more than enough time to consider his own mortality as John was eventually left in a bloodied heap, and their captor turned back to him with a feral grin. At that precise moment in time, Jack was fairly certain that he'd never been so glad as when his fellow Time Agents gatecrashed the party and surrounded them just as large, powerful hand closed around his throat and he felt his insides start to contract under the force of his captor's power._

_"Release him and surrender!" Jaydn Taark demanded. Jack caught her gaze, and his stomach dropped unpleasantly at the sneer he saw twisting her lips. Oh yeah. He and John were going to be in deep shit for this fuck-up. Although, given his current situation, the thought of spending a few days in a cell back at Headquarters, and perhaps getting a little corporal punishment, sounded like bliss by comparison._

_It took a moment to realise that the hand around his throat, and the giant of a man that that hand was attached to, was not complying with the demand. If anything, the grip on his throat had tightened, and he could feel himself on the cusp of blacking out._

_"You pathetic humans," the man said in a voice that was deceptively beautiful in its intonation. "I do not surrender, and you have no technology capable of taking me down."_

_Jack could see Jaydn edging forward slowly. He could see how furious she was, but right then he had never been more grateful for her utter professionalism. As angry as she might have been with him and John, he also knew that she would do nothing to endanger them even more. He saw her dark eyes flashing, and would have grimaced if he'd been able. He knew that look. If anyone was going to kill them, it was going to be her._

_"Release your captives, and we won't have to kill you," Jaydn demanded._

_The only response to that was harsh laughter._

_"I don't think so. Take your precious weapons, and go, and maybe I won't kill you. As for these two, they spoiled my operation, and destroyed vital equipment. Equipment that took me years to build. I plan to take my payment for the damage done from them." He paused, looking back at Jack, insane glee in his luminescent green eyes. "Or, perhaps just this one will suffice. You are beautiful, for a human, and it has been so long since I had a pet."_

_Panic hit at the implication, and Jack began to struggle, but his efforts were useless against his captor's psychic strength. A hand came up to rest against his temple, and Jack screamed in anguish as his mind was brutally invaded. His shields, such as they were, shattered under the ferocity of the mental assault._

_The last thing he knew before losing consciousness were the green eyes that bore into him, and the all-encompassing voice in his mind telling him that his life was no longer his own..._

_

* * *

__to be continued...._


	15. Trouble Brewing

A/N: More of Jack's memories in the next chapter....

* * *

Ianto glanced around wearily as Donna walked into the room, with Eleya settled comfortably on her hip. Her gaze flickered from Ianto to Jack, and took in the Captain's sweat-covered countenance.

"How is he?"

"He's in distress," Ianto said unhappily. "I wish I could just wake him up, but I can't."

Donna set Eleya down to play with a puzzle, and joined Ianto at the bedside. At a second look, in distress was an understatement. Jack's face was contorted in pain, and his breath came in wheezing gasps that had both Donna and Ianto cringing.

"There must be something we can do," she said softly, acutely aware that Ianto's anxiety levels were sky-rocketing in response to Jack's apparently worsening condition.

"There isn't," Ianto said miserably. "I can't even wipe his face for him. The Doctor said that whatever happens, we can't interfere in any way, and that includes any sort of physical touch. If we do, it could cause serious damage."

Donna frowned, wondering how true that really was, and whether she could make the skinny git admit it if it wasn't.

"It's not the risk of death," Ianto went on in a calm tone that utterly belied his turbulent emotions. "He'd come back from that. It's what it could do to his mind. If we interfere now in any way, it could destroy his mind."

"But it's like any other injury, isn't it?" Donna asked. "Wouldn't he heal sooner or later?"

"No," a stern voice answered from the doorway. Donna looked around as the Doctor entered, but Ianto never took his eyes off Jack. "The mind is a different prospect to the physical body, and there are just some things that even the vortex can't heal. If Jack's mind is damaged or destroyed whilst in this state, there'll be no coming back from it. Ianto is right. We can't interfere, not even to wipe the sweat from his face. Any sort of physical contact is out of the question. He must be left untouched, to come out of it on his own."

Donna looked grimly back to Jack as Ianto sat with his hands hovering near his lover, but never quite touching.

"It better be worth it, spaceman," she growled softly. "They'd better not be going through this for nothing."

The Doctor didn't reply, but silently he hoped the same thing.

* * *

How long has it been now?"

Owen slammed the scalpel down on the autopsy table, and glared up at Gwen in rapidly increasing aggravation.

"It's been three and a half hours, as you bloody well know. For fuck's sake, Gwen, go and find something to do! Quit harassing the rest of us!"

"I can't help it, I'm worried!" Gwen argued. "We have no idea just what is going on inside that… that ship. I'm just worried about Jack, and Ianto and Eleya as well."

Her admission did nothing to improve Owen's disposition.

"You think I'm not? Bloody hell, Cooper, how did you ever manage as a copper?"

Gwen looked affronted, but had the sense at least not to argue. Seeing she would get no satisfaction out of Owen, she decided to put her focus towards other mutually beneficial tasks.

"Look, I'm going to go out for coffee."

Owen's face lit up at the word.

"Finally, something practical! Bring back one, would you? I know Ianto showed Alex how to use the coffee machine, but she seems to specialise in that rocket fuel that Jack drinks."

Gwen fought to hide a grin at the memory of Owen nearly choking on the last cup of coffee that Alex had made for him. His only saving grace had been that he'd waited until he was back in Autopsy before tasting it.

"All right, I'll bring one back for you. Owen…"

"Yes, Gwen?"

"Jack will be all right, won't he?"

Owen looked back up at her with a mixture of frustration and sympathy.

"Isn't he always?"

She headed away from him without another word, not certain whether to be reassured or not.

* * *

"Gwen!" Tosh called to her as she emerged back into the main body of the Hub. "We've got a rift alert. Something's come through, but I can't tell yet if it's sentient."

"What's the location?" Gwen wondered.

"Police Headquarters," Tosh replied. "It's only minor, so it's likely that we're dealing with something inanimate."

Gwen grimaced.

"Not necessarily. Remember when John Hart arrived? That didn't trigger much of an alert, either. I think I'll play it safe and take someone with me. Where are Bobby and Alex? Won't hurt to give them a bit more field experience, even if it does turn out to be nothing major."

Tosh smiled in approval. There was the sensible, level-headed woman that Jack had hired, as opposed to the emotional, high-strung woman who had ruled over the last couple of days.

"Take the SUV. I'll tell them to meet you in the garage."

* * *

Tosh soon tracked down Torchwood's newest recruits in the Archives. Bobby appeared to be in the process of filing something that Alex had taken down to him and, to her amusement, he was being extremely meticulous about where it went. A tiny smile graced Tosh's lips. Ianto would be pleased to know that his previous archives were in very good hands.

She signalled their comms, pleased to note that they were both wearing the Bluetooth earpieces that they'd been issued on their first day.

"Bobby, Alex, meet Gwen up in the garage. We've got a minor rift alert."

On the CCTV, Alex could clearly be seen rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

"Great, fresh air at last! I swear, I don't know how Ianto can stand being down here. The air is so damned stale."

Tosh didn't answer that, because the truth was that she didn't understand it anymore than Alex did – albeit, for significantly different reasons. Even so, Ianto seemed to find refuge down there, and she would never have begrudged him that.

"Toshiko? Are you there?"

Tosh started a little, embarrassed at being caught daydreaming.

"Sorry. I'm here, Bobby. What is it?"

"Where's the alert centred?"

"Oh… Uh, the Cardiff Police Headquarters. Be careful, we don't know what you'll find when you get there."

The look she saw them exchange told her that it wasn't the first time they'd heard that warning.

* * *

"Is your relationship with the police really as bad as Jack's led us to believe?" Bobby wondered as they joined Gwen in the garage. She smiled ruefully.

"Well, it's not good. We tend to run roughshod over them a lot by necessity. Needless to say, we're not too popular with them. Although, they're still more than happy to call us in if something happens that they can't deal with."

"Sounds like my career with the NYPD," Bobby said with a touch of bitterness in his voice. Gwen looked at him incredulously.

"According to your records, you were one of the best detectives in the NYPD!"

"I had a solid record for arrests and convictions," Bobby conceded, "but my methods had most other cops calling me a whack job."

Gwen's expression hardened as Alex nodded in grim confirmation.

"Well, you'll never be called that by us, I guarantee it."

Bobby smiled softly in appreciation as they climbed into the SUV.

"I know."

* * *

None of them had any idea what to expect when they arrived at their destination. As Tosh had said, it was only a small spike, and there was every likelihood that it was something similar to Eleya's treasure box. Or so they'd hoped. In truth, though, none of them were entirely surprised to arrive at the Cardiff Police Headquarters to find the place looking like a bomb had just gone off.

Acrid bluish-purple smoke was still wafting out through doors and windows, and police of all ranks were in the street - some being tended to by paramedics.

"What the bloody hell…?" Gwen murmured, her hand automatically resting on the hilt of her gun. She led the way forward, scanning the crowd until she spotted a familiar face. "Andy!"

PC Andy Davidson turned at her shout, revealing an ugly laceration down the side of his face that was bleeding profusely. Gwen uttered a cry at the sight of him, and hurried over to him.

"Andy, what the hell happened here?"

He shook his head, and then winced at the pain induced by the movement.

"Not a bloody clue. All I know is that these… people just appeared… They appeared out of nowhere! Made all sorts of weird demands… Wanted to know where it was, and reckoned that they'd level the place if we didn't hand it over."

"It being…?" Alex asked, and Andy shrugged.

"No idea. It was chaos, utter bloody chaos. They ripped the place apart. I don't think anyone was killed, which was a miracle in itself, but a few of our lads tried to stop them and ended up pretty badly hurt."

"Is that what happened to you?" Bobby wondered. Andy pulled a face.

"Wish I could say it was, but no. Got hit by a bit of debris, that's all."

"The people who did this," Gwen said, anxious to get him to focus. "How many were there?"

"I'm not sure," Andy admitted. "I saw three for certain, but I think there were more. Look, Detective Swanson is over there. She confronted them , she'll be able to tell you more."

"All right, love," Gwen murmured. "You go and get yourself looked after, all right?"

Once he'd headed off towards one of the ambulances, Gwen activated her comm. and spoke to Tosh.

"Tosh, it's chaos here."

"I know, Gwen. I'm looking at the CCTV footage. Any information yet on who or what is responsible?"

"Three confirmed assailants," Bobby said when Gwen hesitated. "Possibly more. The constable we just spoke to said they appeared out of nowhere."

"Sounds similar to John's arrival," Tosh said, sounding less than happy.

"Tosh, access the footage," Gwen told her. "See if you can get a visual, so we have something to start with."

Instructions given, Gwen led the way through the crowd of police to where Kathy Swanson was currently being seen to by paramedics. She looked fairly bruised and battered, but still relatively intact, judging by the glower she directed at them as they approached.

"Cooper, isn't it?" she growled as Gwen walked over. "Where's Harkness, then? He'd be in his element here."

Admirably, Gwen didn't flinch.

"He's dealing with another situation. What happened here, Detective Swanson?"

She started up, only to be pushed back down by the paramedic who was treated a nasty looking burn on her arm.

"What happened here was that we were attacked, without provocation. Now, I can't prove it yet, but I know it's linked to your captain. When I manage to prove it, I will have his arse in a sling! Do you hear me, Cooper?"

Sidling past Gwen, Bobby crouched down beside the riled detective so that they were at eye level.

"My name is Bobby Goren, Detective Swanson. Please, listen to me. We're not here to step on anyone's toes, or to lay blame. We're here to help sort this out, and find the ones responsible. I don't doubt that your people are more than capable of dealing with the situation, but the truth is that there are aspects to this that are directly within our jurisdiction of responsibility. Will you help us to do our job?"

Slowly, Kathy's expression softened fractionally at Bobby's placating words and tone, and she looked past him to Gwen.

"Your captain could do with taking a course in diplomacy from this one, Cooper." Then, to Bobby, "There were six of them all together. They were equipped with guns, explosives, and other weapons that I've never seen before."

"The constable back there said they appeared out of nowhere," Alex said, and she nodded.

"He's right. They did. There was this flair of light in the middle of the room, and the next thing we knew, these six people walked out of the middle of it. Don't ask me to try and explain it, because I can't."

"The six people," Bobby pressed onwards, "what did they want?"

There, Kathy paused. She stared up at the three of them intently, as though trying to make up her mind about something. Gwen started to speak, but Alex's hand on her arm silenced her. Eventually, Kathy's attention was drawn exclusively to Bobby, and the two of them merely stared at each other for a long while before Kathy finally moved and reached inside her jacket.

"I think they wanted this."

Bobby, Gwen and Alex all watched with carefully neutral expressions as she withdrew a brown leather wrist strap that was, for all appearances, identical to Jack's.

"They called it a vortex manipulator," she said, watching them all with a piercing stare as she handed the strap to Bobby. "Each one of them wore one of those things on their wrists and, unless I'm mistaken, your captain has one, too."

None of them attempted to refute her. Instead, Bobby offered her a genuine smile.

"Thankyou. I promise I'll let you know whatever I can, when I can."

She looked grudgingly grateful.

"I suppose that's the best I can expect, isn't it? Well, I suppose I ought to be grateful you're taking this one over. As much as I hate to admit it, we're out of our league here."

"We're going to take a look around inside, if that's all right," Alex said as Bobby straightened up again. It wasn't an order, but nor was it a request. Kathy nodded her assent, suddenly too exhausted to argue.

"All right. But please, try to keep us informed. Purely as a courtesy?"

They started to move away when she called out again.

"One thing you should know about that… manipulator, or whatever it is."

"What is it, Detective?" Bobby asked. She looked back at them grimly.

"I found it at Pendefig Mall, after you'd taken the little girl away."

* * *

_to be continued...._


	16. Interlude Two: Enslaved

WARNING: This is where things start to get nasty for Jack. Descriptions of torture and sexual abuse in this chapter, and most likely more graphic descriptions of rape to follow in later chapters. Most definitely not for young eyes.

* * *

_When Jack awoke, it didn't take him long to realise where he was. Or, more specifically, what he was in. It was a casket, like the old Earth-style coffins. He tried to scream, but found he had no voice with which to voice his distress and growing panic. He tried to lift his hands to pound on the lid that was mere inches above his face, but his arms, and indeed the rest of his body, were completely paralysed. All he could do for himself was breathe._

_Jack shut his eyes, but it did nothing for the clawing sensation of claustrophobia that was steadily engulfing him._

_Don't panic, my pet. You are perfectly safe. I would not have gone to the trouble of smuggling you onto my home world, only to have you suffocate._

_The voice was so clear that it took every ounce of reason Jack could muster to convince himself that he was actually alone in the hellish box._

_Who are you? he asked, but the question was spoken only in his mind. He had no voice to speak the words out loud. It didn't seem to matter to his captor, though._

_My name is Darien. You will call me Master._

_Like hell, Jack thought furiously. Let me go!_

_I don't think you want me to do that, my pet. You see, my people are peaceful enough, but they are also fiercely protective of their world. You will be the first outsider to set foot on my world for my hundreds of years._

_Jack's breath came in rapid gasps as he struggled to keep himself from hyperventilating._

_What do you mean?_

_I mean, pet, that if you are discovered, I may be punished but you will be put to death._

_As much as Jack didn't want to believe it, he could sense the truth in Darien's words, and he felt himself despair. Cruel laughter answered his distress._

_Yes, you know I do not lie. Trust that it is in your best interests now to obey me. Sleep now, my pet. When you awaken, it will be to your new life, and I promise you will want for nothing, as long as you do as I say._

_Jack wanted desperately to tell his abductor that he could shove his platitudes up his arse, but he could feel sleep overtaking him once more. He struggled to stay awake, but the power of his captor was overwhelming and before he fully comprehended what was happening, darkness claimed him once more._

_

* * *

_

_He woke again to find he was free of the confines of the coffin, but that relief was tempered by the realisation that he was lying on a ragged pile of blankets on a hard cold floor, and that his legs were manacled and chained. More angry than afraid right then, Jack sat up and reached for the offending irons to try and free himself. It was a pointless waste of energy – the manacles were solid and heavy on his ankles._

_"Fuck," he whispered, falling back easily into a habit of using twenty-first century vulgarity to express his frustration._

_Resigned to the fact that he was going nowhere for the time being, he instead took a moment to observe his surroundings. It was an unremarkable room; more like a twentieth century Earth wood cabin than any sort of standard fifty-first century dwelling. Despite the apparent simplicity of the place, though, it was nonetheless solid in structure. Not to mention..._

_No door, Jack realised with a sinking heart. Wherever he was, he was well and truly hidden away. A caged animal, he thought with a fresh hint of panic. Right at that moment, that was all he was – a caged animal being kept for the amusement of another._

_A shimmer of light appeared briefly in the shape of a door, and the green-eyed monster, otherwise known as Darien, appeared in front of him. For the first time, Jack got a good look at his captor, and the man who had quite possibly killed his partner and lover._

_Darien was more or less human in appearance. In fact, the only physical features he had that suggested he wasn't were his eyes, which were almost luminescent green, and hair that was jet black with silver streaks. He was tall, well over six foot, and while he didn't appear particularly broadly built, there was a real strength in his body. That, coupled with the psychic power that Jack had already been witness to, made for a terrifying opponent._

_What Jack hadn't anticipated, though, was the man's very real physical beauty. His skin was lightly tanned, with high-set cheek bones, and lips that Jack would ordinarily have considered to be just right for kissing. Had he not been in the situation that he was in, he might have found himself attracted to him. As it was, the thought left him wanting to throw up. Leg irons just weren't his idea of good kink._

_"I apologise for the inconvenience of the shackles," Darien told him in a tender tone that masked a sinister edge. "They're only until you are no longer at risk of trying to escape."_

_"What do you want with me?" Jack asked hoarsely, only to shudder when Darien reached out to caress his face._

_"I want you to love me, to worship me. I want you to adore me so much that you'll never want to leave my side. I want everything that you are to belong to me."_

_A hysterical giggle escaped Jack's lips._

_"Is that all? Why didn't you just say so?"_

_Abruptly, the hand caressing his face moved to grasp him by the chin in a bruising grip that caused Jack to whimper in pain._

_"Don't mock me, my pet. I can give you a life free of want and need, but if you upset me I can make you suffer in ways you can't possibly begin to imagine."_

_Jack could feel the danger radiating off Darien like heat, but he still could not help himself. He'd always been a smart arse, it was as ingrained into his psyche as the ability to lie and cheat, or seduce._

_"Oh no, I wouldn't want to upset you. Hell, no! You've just made all my dreams come true! Why would I ever want to upset you?"_

_The backhanded strike across his face felt much like getting hit with an iron bar. Jack was knocked back on his arse, and he gagged at the taste of blood that filled his mouth. He blinked dazedly as Darien towered over him with a thunderous expression._

_And instant later, Jack screamed in pain at the agonising and hideous sensation of the very bones in his body bending and twisting out of place. It was an agony the likes of which he had never experienced before in his life, and he curled in on himself in a desperate but futile attempt to block it out. A strangled sob escaped his lips, and barely audible words formed on those same lips._

_"Please... Stop... Hurts..."_

_It was over before Jack actually realised it. His mind was still grasping the fact that the pain had stopped when Darien crouched down beside him and stroked his hair in an obscenely tender gesture._

_"You will learn, my pet. Sooner or later, you will learn. If you're as intelligent as I believe you to be, you will learn sooner, rather than later."_

_And then he was gone, leaving Jack to sob quietly, and to despair in the solitude of his prison._

_

* * *

_

_Jack prided himself on being strong, both physically and mentally, and he also prided himself on having no shame. Over the following week, though, – in reality he had no clue how long it was, because his captor never allowed him to see daylight – Darien systematically broke down every defence he had until he no longer knew up from down, front from back or yes from no. The constant assault on his very limited psychic defences reduced him to a shattered wreck frighteningly fast._

_Every show of defiance he made, no matter what or how small, was met with brutally cruel retribution that inevitably left Jack a whimpering mess._

_For the most part, Darien's choice of torment was mental, and he delighted in Jack's tortured screams as he forcibly clawed his way through the labyrinth of Jack's mind to learn every possible thing he could about his prisoner. Then, when he was done breaking Jack as comprehensively as possible, he would sit with him for a time. He held Jack with a compassion that belied his sadistic nature, and talked to him about everything that would be his if he would only submit._

_And slowly, Jack felt his resolve to fight crumbling as he came to the unhappy realisation that no one was coming to rescue him. So, with the awareness in the back of his mind that he would have just one chance to escape before Darien destroyed him both physically and mentally, Jack began to devise a plan._

_

* * *

_

_When Darien came to him next, Jack almost wasn't aware of his presence. He was almost consumed with pain, fatigue and hunger, and he had very little energy left for anything at all. It was all part of Darien's plan, he supposed dully. Push him to the brink and then, when he had very little strength left and was teetering on the very edge of sanity, take control._

_On some level, Jack supposed he'd known all along what Darien was doing, but he had been so focused on his own ineffectual attempts to protect himself that it hadn't sunk in until it was nearly too late. As a result, he barely had the strength left to do what he knew he needed to do in order to save what little was left of his sanity. Using whatever remnants of strength he had left, Jack struggled up onto his knees in front of Darien, who watched with keen interest. Lowering his head – something that wasn't difficult to do, given how exhausted and ill he was feeling – Jack murmured, "Master"._

_Crouching, Darien took hold of Jack's chin in a none-too-gentle grip and forced Jack to look him in the eyes, searching for any sign of insincerity. Jack was a practised con man, though, and the systematic abuse by Darien had made it easy for him to keep his mind relatively empty. He gave nothing away._

_"Good," Darien purred, caressing Jack's face with tenderness that, to Jack, felt possessive. "I was starting to wonder whether more drastic measures would be needed."_

_Jack couldn't keep himself from flinching at the suggestion that Darien had been prepared to do even worse to him. He shut his eyes to try and hide his revulsion as cool lips brushed over his forehead._

_"You have no need to fear me, pet. Not unless you provoke my anger, and you wouldn't be that foolish now, would you?"_

_"No, Master," Jack whispered, swallowing back the bile that the word induced. Darien stood and drew Jack up with him._

_"We have no more need of these, then," he said, and the manacles broke away from his ankles at just a glance from Darien._

_"Come with me, pet."_

_Jack took a shaky step forward. The muscles in his legs were weak after both non-use and a week of torment and torture, and he stumbled as his legs threatened to collapse beneath him. An arm snaked around his waist, keeping him upright._

_"I will tend to you shortly," Darien promised, and though his words seemed innocent enough, the tone sent an unpleasant shiver through Jack. "Now, though, I wish to show you your quarters."_

_

* * *

_

_Jack's 'quarters' turned out to be a room no bigger than the one he'd initially been kept in. The only difference was that this room had a door and a bed, and a small, if pitifully empty shelf. There was no window through which he could see the outside world, Jack noted ruefully. He realised that Darien was speaking, and had to force himself to pay attention._

_"Please me," Darien told him, "and I will reward you accordingly. Do you like books? Trinkets? I will give you whatever you desire, as long as you obey me. Now, lie down. I will tend to you, and then you shall rest. Tomorrow, you will learn what is expected of you."_

_Jack lay down as ordered, and an involuntary sigh escaped his lips at the comfort the mattress afforded him. The bed itself was narrow and relatively hard, but compared to the pile of blankets that had been his bed for the last week, it was positive luxury, and the pillow felt like heaven beneath his aching head._

_He was so lost in his relief at finally being off the hard, cold floor that he didn't realise what was happening until he felt Darien's hands unbuttoning his trousers and pulling them roughly off. He tried to sit up, but an invisible force held him down firmly._

_"Master...?" Jack asked shakily. "What are you doing? Please, don't..."_

_He didn't really want to think about what he was pleading Darien not to do, and of all the things he'd imagined Darien might do to him, rape was not among them. Jack had done a lot of things with a lot of people, but it had never at any time been anything but consensual. He could barely conceive of the concept of forcing someone into a sexual act if they truly didn't want to participate._

_Despite everything that had happened so far, he honestly didn't expect Darien to continue with his actions once he'd voiced his protest. Terror swept down through him in icy cold waves as Darien silenced him with a hard, threatening look that lacked any degree of benevolence._

_"Silence. Do not fight me."_

_Jack clamped his jaw shut as much in an effort not to scream as to keep himself from protesting. Tears stung his eyes as his shirt was stripped from his body and, finally, his boxer shorts were torn away, leaving him naked and vulnerable._

_He shut his eyes, humiliated like never before under Darien's intense and appraising stare. He'd never before been embarrassed to be nude, but right then he wanted nothing more than to have something – anything – to shield him from his captor's eyes._

_An involuntary yelp escaped his lips as he felt Darien's hands on his body, and he opened his eyes again to find the other man staring at him in warning._

_"Silence!"_

_Jack swallowed a whimper, and once again clamped his jaw shut. Satisfied, Darien continued with his examination. His hands probed everywhere, rubbing roughly over Jack's nipples before sliding down to caress his abdomen. He squeezed Jack's thighs hard enough to leave immediate bruises before jerking Jack's legs wide apart to leave him completely exposed. From there, his hands roughly handled Jack's penis and sac, before his long, thick fingers probed his opening. All the while, Darien hummed his approval, cruel pleasure in his face._

_"Very good," he said, finally releasing his hold on Jack. "You are indeed a fine example of your species. I shall enjoy training you." He moved back to the door. "Sleep, now. Your training will begin tomorrow."_

_Jack didn't need to get up and try the door to know it was locked. Distraught and sickened by what lay ahead of him, he curled up slowly on the bed and eventually slipped into a fitful slumber._

_

* * *

_

_to be continued...  
_


	17. Interlude Three: A Life in Bondage

WARNING: Graphic descriptions of rape and abuse.

* * *

_Jack knew he had to escape. Just one week in to Darien's 'training', and it was the only thing he could think of, when he dared to think of anything at all beyond Darien's orders. Just two days in, and he was just about prepared to try and escape, no matter what consequences he was likely to face. Even death would be preferable to the debasement he was suffering at the hands of his captor._

_The very first morning had been beyond a nightmare. As soon as he'd risen, Darien had been there with a robe for him to wear. It was black in colour, thin and barely reached his knees. He'd started to pull it closed around his body, only to suffer a cuff across the side of the head that left him seeing stars. The next thing he knew, he was bent over the bed, his legs roughly kicked apart and the robe pushed up over his hips to expose his arse._

_He felt hot breath on his cheek, and Darien's voice hissed in his ear._

_"I want easy access. Do not cover yourself up in my presence, ever. Do you understand me, pet?"_

_A hand stroked one buttock, then the other, and finally both of Darien's hands exposed Jack's anus. The sensation of Darien's cock literally ramming into him drew a scream from Jack's lips. With no preparation at all, he could feel his hole not stretching, but tearing from the forced entry. Another violent cuff to the head stunned him into silence, and he lay pliant and in shock on the bed as Darien abused him._

_He didn't know how long it went on for. For all he knew, it was only seconds. It felt more like hours. He was still lying slumped on the bed, trembling violently and one step short of hyperventilating when Darien's hand stroked tenderly over his head, and he felt the older man's lips on his cheek, kissing away his tears._

_"You have just had your first lesson, my pet. I will have you whenever I desire, and you will make yourself available to me without fail. Now, clean yourself up, and come to the kitchen. I wish for you to make my morning meal."_

_It had taken Jack nearly half an hour to gather himself together, clean up and find the kitchen, where Darien was waiting. His supposed tardiness had earned him a solid thrashing, and then the blood that had been spilt over the floor had sent Darien into yet another rage. Jack had been rendered unconscious and utterly helpless within an hour of waking up on his first morning as Darien's chosen 'pet'. He'd spent the rest of the day back in bed recovering from the rape and the beatings._

_The next few days had been only fractionally better – he'd lasted until nearly lunch time each day before Darien lost his patience and beat him into unconsciousness._

_This morning – one week in – had been no better than the previous mornings. The one difference was that this time, for the first time since being brought to this little house of horrors, he had made it past lunch without doing anything serious enough to warrant a similar beating to those of the previous mornings._

_Now, he huddled in his room whilst Darien was out on 'business', picking at the food that he'd been allowed to take from the kitchen for himself. It wasn't exactly unpalatable, but the texture, taste and aroma left much to be desired. Giving up on eating, he put the plate aside and lay down on the narrow bed. He dared not pull the robe closed for fear that Darien might come in and discover him. Easy access at all times, he'd warned. The robe was a mockery of modesty, and no more. He may as well have been naked._

_The irony was that under any other circumstance, his nudity wouldn't have bothered him in the slightest. Indeed, he would have revelled in it, and taken every opportunity to show off. This constant, forced exposure and lurid scrutiny, though, had achieved something that Jack had never before considered possible. He had become embarrassed by his own body, and for once he was immensely grateful that he had no access to a mirror._

_He curled up in a ball, trying to use his own body to shield himself in whatever way he could, knowing that Darien could be back at any moment. He cherished every precious moment that he had to himself, for they were few and far between. Even his nights were severely broken with trying to cater adequately to Darien's every demand._

_Darien was a cruel and sadistic master, despite his promises of rewards for obedience and pleasing behaviour. Even worse than the physical torment, though, were the vicious mind games that Darien played. Several times, he'd returned from business outside the house claiming to have a gift for 'his precious pet', only to find some trivial excuse to withhold it. The food tray had not been cleaned properly. A cup or plate was in the wrong place in the cupboard. The house was too dark, too light, too hot, too cold... It didn't matter. There was always something for Darien to find fault with, whether it was Jack's fault or not._

_So far, all Jack had to show for his efforts were the burning welts of whip marks on his back – never on his buttocks – a constant parade of bruises, aches in places that didn't bear thinking about and a head that was becoming steadily more convoluted by Darien's warped ideas of care and concern._

_A 'lesson' – otherwise known in Jack's book as rape – was usually followed by a beating. The beating was followed by further abuse, usually delivered by means of Darien's terrifying psychic abilities and usually resulted in Jack curled up on the floor and reduced to a whimpering wreck. That was then followed by Darien gathering Jack up in his arms, and holding him in an appalling and hypocritical display of care whilst he repeated his false promises again and again, until Jack wanted to believe him and whispered promises that he would try harder, and do better._

_It was a vicious and degrading cycle that left Jack in a state of confusion, fear and pain._

_A shadow fell across him, and he sat up quickly in fright. Darien stepped into the room, eyeing Jack with a keen look. A look that Jack knew only too well._

_Without waiting to be told, he stood up on shaky legs and parted his robe wide for his master's appraising gaze._

_"Where would you like me, Master?" he asked hoarsely. Darien's eyes gleamed, and a small, cruel smile quirked his lips._

_"Very good, pet. I'm pleased. You are learning your place. Come here."_

_Jack approached without hesitation. Hesitating meant risking Darien's displeasure, and displeasing him meant pain. The Mendyrian's smile widened, and it sent a shudder through Jack that he barely managed to suppress. When Darien smiled at him like that, he knew he had good cause to be afraid. Darien's hand came up to stroke his cheek._

_"Come with me. I have a gift for you."_

_Jack followed silently, unable to keep himself from wondering whether Darien's 'gift' would leave him writhing in pain._

_He was led to a room that he could only adequately describe as Darien's private study. It was the one room in the whole blasted house that Jack was banned from entering except under Darien's orders, and Jack had learnt that lesson the hard way on his third day there. The assault after that particular infraction had damn near killed him, and Jack had never made that mistake again. Now, he hovered in the doorway of the room, afraid to go in for fear of it being a trap._

_"Come in," Darien told him in a deceptively gentle tone. "Don't be afraid. I told you, I have a gift for you. See?"_

_He held out a plainly wrapped parcel. Jack ventured in slowly and held out a trembling hand to receive it. Darien pressed the parcel into his hands. He allowed his fingers to brush over Jack's, and Jack nearly dropped the parcel at the unwanted contact._

_"Open it," Darien encouraged him. "Go ahead. I want you to open it."_

_Trying his best to still the tremors that shook his hands, Jack peeled the paper back to reveal a book. It wasn't the type of computer-powered holographic book that he was used to, but rather an old Earth-style book with real pages and real ink. He stared at it in wonder, barely even seeing the title to start with as he felt the weight of it in his hands. It was wonderfully heavy and solid, and he fancied he could smell the wood pulp that the pages had been made from._

_"Do you like it?" Darien asked, and for just a moment he looked to Jack like he actually wanted him to be pleased with the gift. Jack nodded, clutching the book to his chest as though frightened that Darien would take it from him again._

_"Yes, Master. I love it. Th... Thankyou. I... I'm grateful."_

_Darien nodded in satisfaction that was punctuated by a nauseating leer._

_"As you should be. Now. Put that down, come over here and show me how grateful you are."_

_

* * *

__Numb; it was the only way to cope. Laying curled up on his bed after Darien finally retired for the night, Jack reflected that the only way to cope with the abuse and torment was to make himself go numb and his mind go blank. It didn't work as well as he needed it to, but it was better than being completely aware._

_For a long while, he let his mind stay blank while he lay on his bed, recovering from the most recent abuse inflicted on him by his sadistic master. When, eventually, his mind began to clear and he came reluctantly back to reality, the first thing his gaze focused on was the book Darien had given him. It sat on the shelf in his room, looking somewhat lonely, but the sight of it warmed Jack a little._

_The book was a very old Earth title by an author that Jack was only vaguely familiar with. Stephen King's The Stand, the title proclaimed. He didn't know what it was about, and his grasp of twentieth century English was barely strong enough to be able to read it, but he didn't care. Simply having the book in his possession gave him hope._

_He eventually fell asleep, feeling encouraged for the first time since the whole nightmare had begun._

_

* * *

__Jack awoke to the smell of smoke, and the heat of a fire. He was confused – there was no fireplace in his room. Turning on the thin mattress, he looked around in bewilderment that quickly turned to dismay. Darien crouched at the end of his bed with a placid look on his face, and Jack's new book in his hands. He was tearing the pages out several at a time and dropping them into a steel bucket. As he dropped each sheaf of pages, the paper burst into flame and incinerated quickly inside the bucket._

_A cry escaped Jack's lips, and he scrambled off the bed. Darien looked up at him with almost a sorrowful look on his face._

_"You disappoint me, pet. I showed you kindness yesterday, and you repay me with disobedience. I had to make my own breakfast this morning, because you overslept. It is unacceptable."_

_Tears filled Jack's eyes, and he barely heard Darien's reprimand. His eyes were fixed on the book as it was steadily destroyed in front of him. For long seconds, he couldn't move, and could barely even breathe. When a tiny smile flickered across Darien's lips, though, Jack finally snapped. With a cry of rage, Jack launched himself straight at Darien, fully prepared in that moment to kill him._

_It was a futile move. Jack barely made it two steps before he felt himself being lifted off his feet and slammed backwards into the wall. There he was pinned, in much the same way as had happened when he and John tried to confront Darien in that warehouse. He choked as his throat tightened, cutting his air supply short, and spots danced in front of his eyes as Darien approached._

_"How you disappoint me, my pet. Fortunately for you, I am merciful and forgiving. But know this; I will not tolerate rebellion of any degree. For this infraction, you will be severely punished. Do you understand me?"_

_Jack couldn't speak, even if he had wanted to. All he could see was Darien's malevolent stare and, beyond him, the smouldering remains of his book. Tears spilled down his cheeks and he struggled to take another breath before darkness descended and he lapsed into unconsciousness._

_

* * *

__He fast lost all track of time. Days and nights blurred into one, and the passage of time for him was marked not by time spent awake or asleep, but rather by each beating and every rape and sexual assault. It was one long, ongoing nightmare from which Jack had no means of escape, and what hurt worst of all was knowing that the only person who might have possibly cared enough to even consider searching for him was most likely dead._

_Jack had to swallow his grief. He had other more immediate matters to worry about, such as ensuring Darien wasn't aggravated with him in any way, if it could be avoided. Also, escape was never far from his thoughts. Unfortunately, that proved to be far harder than he had hoped._

_During his first week of 'training', Jack had tried to map out the layout of the house for future reference. His idea had been to play along until Darien let his guard down around him, and then escape. It hadn't taken him long to realise that futility of that idea. Much like the staircases in those old twenty-first century wizard books... Barry Cotter, or some such name... the rooms and doors in Darien's house were never the same from one day to the next, and there were no windows anywhere in the house for him to have any idea of what the outside world looked like._

_It left him severely disoriented, and hopelessly frustrated._

_Worse was Darien's open amusement at his bewilderment. He never explained whether it was a quirk of the house, or a deliberate ploy to keep him from escaping, and he took great pleasure in punishing Jack harshly for any delays caused by Jack's inability to follow the many physical transitions. A late meal because Jack couldn't find the kitchen, failure to be in the lounge room at the right moment to greet Darien when he returned from his business outside the house and even failing to make it to the bathroom in time when he couldn't find the right door... All of it incited Darien's wrath._

_And all the while, Jack could have sworn that the house itself took delight in his torment, right alongside his captor._

_

* * *

__He was almost at the pit of despair when, purely by chance, he stumbled onto the one elusive doorway to the outside world. In all honesty, he hadn't even been looking for it. He'd stumbled out of bed in the early hours of the morning, needing the bathroom in order to clean out a seeping welt on his leg – the result of an earlier punishment for some perceived infraction – when he found it. He'd thought it was the bathroom door, he really had, and it took him a good minute to understand exactly what he was looking at._

_Outside..._

_For a split second, he actually contemplated shutting the door, and forgetting he'd seen it. Go back to bed, a tiny voice whispered in his mind. Curl up and wait for Darien to call for him again. And he very nearly did, too._

_But then, the haze that had enveloped him for the last days... weeks... months... cleared a little, and his heart raced with anxiety and hope. Steeling himself, and all the while expecting Darien to appear any instant, Jack stepped past the threshold and into the early morning Mendyrian sun._

_

* * *

_

to be continued....


	18. Interlude Four: One Step at a Time

_It was bitterly cold, but Jack didn't feel it. He was barely aware of his surroundings as he stumbled along, though he did take dim notice of the purple-blue sky, and the twin pale moons that were just visible as the sun was beginning to breach the horizon._

_He walked slowly, despite the urgency of the situation, focusing what shreds of concentration he had on keeping his damaged leg from collapsing, and fighting off nausea and dizziness that kept sweeping over him in waves. More than once he stopped to retch, but there was nothing in his stomach to bring up._

_In all truth, he didn't have a clear idea of what he was doing, or where he was going. He didn't know where the nearest civilisation was, or if there was civilisation. All he knew of the world he was in was what Darien had told him, and none of it was particularly complimentary. For all Jack knew, he was literally walking out of the frying pan and straight into the fire. He had no way of knowing that whoever he found wouldn't simply kill him on the spot. All he could do was hope that if he was walking to his death, then it would at least quick. Anything had to be better than the prolonged torment that Darien had been inflicting on him._

_He shivered violently as he made his way along what seemed to be some sort of a road. Logically, he knew that he should have tried to move off the road, but logic was not his greatest strength right then. It was enough of a struggle just to wipe the sweat from his eyes so that he could see more than six inches ahead of him._

_Above all, he knew that he needed to keep moving, or he ran the risk of hypothermia. The robe he wore provided no protection at all from the elements, no matter how much he tried to tug it around his body. He coughed painfully, and winced at the pain that shot through his chest at the gesture._

_Gradually, he became aware of the hard, rocky ground that cut into his bare feet. Every step felt like shards of glass beneath his feet. He stumbled frequently and he was finding it increasingly hard to stay upright._

_He dared not look back, not even to see how much distance he'd covered. All the while, he anticipated Darien's hand on his shoulder, ending his bid for freedom and claiming him once more. He was so focused on escaping what was behind him that he never saw what was ahead of him until it was too late._

_A cry of fright escaped Jack's lips as he walked right into a very solid wall of flesh that was in his path. Panic struck, and he collapsed painfully to his knees, not even daring to look at the face of the one who had stopped him._

_"I'm sorry," he choked out, hoping fervently that a genuine show of repentance, along with some serious begging and subjugation, might be enough to keep Darien from killing him. "I'm sorry, Master, please forgive me. Please don't hurt me, I'll go back, I swear it. I'll be good, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry..."_

_Hands grasped his shoulders, and Jack uttered a scream of fear at the contact, but the crushing grip that he was anticipating never eventuated. Instead, he found himself drawn unexpectedly into a gentle embrace._

_"Hush, now. I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe. It's all right."_

_The voice was not Darien's, though it took Jack long seconds to register that fact. Slowly, as his heart pounded slightly less forcefully, he risked a look up. Sure enough, the fact above him was not Darien's face at all. Instead of black and silver hair, there was a head full of greying hair, and in place of those terrifying green eyes, there was instead a pair of pale brown eyes. The age-lined face looking down on him now was confused and concerned, but above all else, it was kind._

_"You are human," the man said with a puzzled frown. "How did you come to be here? Mendyr is a closed world."_

_Tears filled Jack's eyes, and he was almost overcome with terror as Darien's warnings came crashing back down on him in force._

_"Please, don't kill me," he begged, and hating himself for having to beg. "Please, it was him, he brought me here. I'm sorry, just please don't hurt me."_

_A hand caressed his hair tenderly, with none of the underlying malice that was always present in Darien's touches._

_"Calm down. No one is going to hurt you or kill you. Now tell me, who is responsible for you being here?"_

_Jack almost choked on the name, and it took him a couple of goes before he could say it._

_"D... Da... Darien..."_

_The other man's face clouded over with anger and Jack cringed in fear, even though he knew instinctively that it wasn't directed at him. The man saw Jack's fear, and sighed sadly._

_"Hush, child. I told you I'm not going to hurt you. But tell me, is Darien also responsible for you being in this state?"_

_Jack couldn't answer that, and he hung his head in shame. Cool lips brushed over the top of his head, and it took everything Jack had not to shudder._

_"You're safe now, I promise you. He won't be able to hurt you anymore. Now, can you stand? My home is not far from here."_

_Jack felt acute panic at the thought of going into another house, but in the end he had no choice. With the help of his apparent rescuer, Jack got awkwardly to his feet and began to move forward once more. He made it all of three or four steps, though, before the pain of his injuries became too much and he stumbled. Before he could collapse, though, an arm went around his waist, supporting him to keep him on his feet. The contact resulted in a frightened gasp from Jack, and the man murmured soothingly in response._

_"It's all right. I'm just going to help you walk. That's all. Come now, one step at a time. That's the way. My name is Jal, by the way. What is your name?"_

_Jack shivered violently. The mind-numbing haze was threatening to engulf him once more._

_"He… He calls me his pet."_

_Jal frowned in disapproval._

_"I would prefer to call you by your name. You are nobody's pet."_

_Jack continued to tremble, partly from fear and partly from the cold that was chilling him to the bone. He'd had so many identities over the last several years, and now he had trouble distinguishing each one from the other. There was a common thread, though. He always chose a first name that, if not the same as his real name, was at least a variation of it._

_"Jack," he answered finally, opting for his favourite variation. A smile warmed Jal's face._

_"Well, I am glad to meet you, Jack. Look, we're here."_

_Jack looked up in a daze as they approached a house that, for all appearances seemed disturbingly similar to Darien's. Before fresh panic could take hold, though, they were through the door and Jack felt the differences as much as he could see them._

_Jal's home was nothing like Darien's house of horrors. Where Darien's home had been dark and forbidding, a tormenting maze, Jal's was brightly lit, and full of welcoming warmth. He was vaguely aware of being guided into a large, open room where a fire was burning warmly, and Jal urging him to sit in a big, comfortable chair. He did so stiffly. It was a luxury that he hadn't been afforded in a long time, and he was terrified that Jal's kindness would turn out to be a façade._

_"Jal? What is this?"_

_An older woman approached with a puzzled look on her face. She was approximately the same age as Jal, as near as Jack could tell, and like him she had kind eyes and a gentle smile. Jal spoke as she came over, his focus all the while on Jack's torn and battered feet. He would not have made it much further, even with help, and they both knew it._

_"Kyrii," Jal told her, "this is Jack. I found him not too far from here, on the road."_

_Her eyes widened with shock._

_"He's human!"_

_"Yes, he is," Jal confirmed. "He is also injured. Please bring me the healing bag. And then I need you to summon the Elder Council."_

_The shock in her eyes faded to make way for suspicion._

_"Jal…?"_

_"Please do as I say. We need to hurry. Jack just escaped from Darien."_

_She gasped in shock, and hurried to do as he'd asked without further argument._

_"It will be all right," Jal assured Jack as Kyrii disappeared from the room. "Once the Elders arrive, Darien will not be able to harm you again. Now, will you let me tend to you?"_

_Jack went rigid with terror. Even though his logical mind told him that Jal only wanted to help, he still could not keep his thoughts from being overwhelmed by images of Darien's version of 'tending' to him. Panic threatened to engulf him, but in the midst of it all, he felt gentle fingers brushing against his temples. Gradually, the terror abated long enough to see the anger and dismay on his rescuer's face._

_"Darien, that slaakku... Jack, I promise you that I will not do that to you. You have my word, my friend. I only want to help the healing process along. I understand how hard it must be for you to trust me, but I ask you now. Please trust me. I won't hurt you."_

_Jack knew that, in the end, he had little choice but to allow Jal to do whatever he wanted. He found himself wanting to trust the older man, though, and in the end it came down to the simple fact that he really did have no choice. He was at the end of his proverbial rope, with no strength left to even attempt to defend himself. He was literally at Jal's mercy._

_With reluctance and visible fear, Jack answered wordlessly with a slow nod, giving Jal permission to continue._

_"The Elder Council has been alerted," Kyrii said as she ventured back in with a large, cloth bag. "Leesa and Krandl will be here soon. They wish to know the wellbeing of the human."_

_"He's been severely ill-treated," Jal replied tightly. "Darien has much to answer for. Perhaps now the Council will finally act, and stop allowing him free reign to come and go from Mendyr as he likes..." He trailed off abruptly and paused in his ministrations to look up at his wife. "I won't apologise for that, Kyrii."_

_"I'm not asking you to," she answered softly. "You're right, but this is not the time for that discussion."_

_Jal nodded in concession, and returned his attention to the young man hunched in the chair and shaking almost uncontrollably._

_"Jack, I need you to open your robe, my friend. I need to see your injuries."_

_Jack's reaction was predictable. He pulled it tighter around his body, and stared at Jal with frightened eyes. Jal regarded him with sad understanding._

_"All right, then. We'll leave it for now."_

_"Jal?" Kyrii asked, but he shook his head to stymie any awkward questions._

_"When will the Elders arrive?"_

_"We're here," a new voice intoned, and they looked to see a man and woman standing on the threshold, radiating authority. The senior of the two, Leesa, came forward quickly._

_"Let me see him, Jal."_

_"Be kind," Jal begged her as he moved back. "Darien convinced him that he would be put to death for simply being on this world."_

_The woman's stern expression softened at his words and she came forward and crouched down in front of Jack._

_"Look at me, human."_

_"His name is Jack," Jal interjected. She nodded in acknowledgement._

_"Jack, look at me."_

_He raised his eyes towards her tentatively, fearfully._

_"Please, please don't kill me," he pleaded with her in a barely audible voice. Sorrow clouded Leesa's face. She reached out a hand towards him, and was not at all surprised when he flinched away from her. She withdrew her hand, not wanting to frighten him any worse than he already was._

_"It is true, we have not hesitated in the past to execute those found on our planet illegally, but you appear to be here through no fault of your own. You have no need to fear. You will come to no harm by us. Besides, it would seem that Darien has done enough damage already."_

_"I'd just begun to treat his injuries," Jal told her. "I'm afraid he will be need to taken to the Healers' House, though. I'm not skilled enough to be able to give him the help that he needs._

_Leesa nodded, and stepped away from the trembling human._

_"Krandl, deliver him safely to Brenna at the Healers' House. Tell her to treat him with special care, that he has been through a terrible trauma."_

_Krandl came forward, finally, and moved around to stand at Jack's side. He spoke to the distressed man in a calm and soothing tone._

_"Jack, my name is Krandl, and I need you to listen to me now. I am going to take you to our Healers' House. Our healers are among the best in the universe, and they will take good care of you, I promise."_

_"Whatever you do," Jal said in a low voice as Jack seemed to fold in on himself again, "don't say they'll tend to him. I think that's what Darien told him, and then I think the shakkran raped him."_

_Krandl tensed with anger, and his gaze went to Leesa, who wore a similarly furious expression._

_"Take him to Brenna," Leesa said again. "Do not give him into the care of any other, and tell her to give him the possible care. I will deal with Darien personally."_

_

* * *

_

_to be continued...  
_


	19. Interlude Five: Shocks & Reassurances

_Everything that followed was a blur, and not just over the course of that day, but the several days that followed it. For the longest time, Jack existed in a state of semi-coma, with no conscious awareness of what was happening around him. When he finally woke up, it was to a soft, comfortable bed and warm light streaming in through a large picture window that gave him a pleasant view of trees and a clear, pale pink sky beyond. The window was open a fraction, and a cool breeze wafted through, feeling like heaven against his hot skin._

_Jack sighed and turned his face fully towards it. The movement caused a twinge of pain through his neck and skull, but the feeling of fresh air on his face was worth it. _

_"Welcome back."_

_Jack turned his head again, and this time his pale blue eyes focused on a middle-aged woman in cream and blue robes, with bright eyes and stern but kind expression. _

_"Where am I?" he asked. Or rather, would have done, had his mouth and throat not been so completely dry that they felt like used sandpaper. _

_"Open," the woman murmured, brushing her thumb gently against his lips. He did so, and she slipped a spoonful of ice chips into his mouth. It felt like heaven, and he didn't try to hide his sigh of relief. As he sucked greedily on the ice, she spoke again to introduce herself._

_"I am Brenna, Chief Healer of Mendyr. You have been in my care for the last several days. You were gravely ill, but your body is finally healing as it should. You were fortunate, young man, to escape when you did. With the infections you'd developed, I doubt you would have survived another week without treatment."_

_At his puzzled look, she took the liberty of sitting in the chair by the bedside. _

_"How much do you remember of the last week?"_

_He managed a tiny shake of his head, and tried to ignore the stab of pain that the movement caused him. He had no clear memories of the past several days, and he had no intention of trying to remember them._

_"Well," Brenna said, "I would consider that a blessing. When you were brought to me, you were in a grievous condition. You had an infection from some of the open wounds on your body that could have easily killed you. Your body is healing now, but slowly. It will be some time before you are fully healed and completely well again."_

_Jack swallowed the remainder of the ice, and spoke in a soft, hoarse voice. He was acutely conscious of how terrible he sounded, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel grateful that he did, at least, have a voice. _

_"Where… Where's my master?"_

_The dark, angry look that filled Brenna's face at his words cause his chest to tighten painfully. Fearing he'd said something wrong, and that he was about to be punished, he cringed away from her and shut his eyes in anticipation of the coming blows. _

_It never happened._

_Slowly, Jack became aware of a cool, damp cloth being pressed to his still-hot flesh, and he opened his eyes tentatively to see Brenna watching him with regret and apology._

_"I'm sorry. I didn't intend to scare you, but the idea of slavery… in any form… always makes me furious. Darien is not your master, child. You must try to accept that now, or you will never properly heal. You're free of him, I promise."_

_Jack drew in a shuddering breath. In all truth, he hadn't even been aware of what he'd said. Had Darien really wormed his way in that far? _

_"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't realise…"_

_He felt her palm against his cheek, and the coolness of her flesh felt like bliss on his hot skin. _

_"No apologies. Just concentrate on knowing that you are no one's slave. Now, as for Darien, I wish I could tell you that he has been secured, but I'm afraid that is not the case."_

_Jack felt his stomach roll ominously._

_"He's still out there?"_

_"Not for long," Brenna promised him. "The entire Elder Council is searching for him, as are all of the Lesser Councils. He will not escape justice for long. You are safe. He will not be allowed to hurt you again." She moved her hand to gently cover his eyes. "Rest, now. You still have a lot of healing to do."_

_Jack felt an overwhelming desire to sleep threaten to overcome him, but fear was a powerful stimulant. _

_"You're really sure? I mean, he said…"_

_"Hush," Brenna murmured. "I promise you're safe. Now, try to sleep. You need as much as you can get."_

_His eyes finally slid closed, and he was just drifting off to sleep when a voice spoke close by. _

_"Brenna? I was told he was awake."_

_"Yes, for a short while, Leesa. He still needs much rest, though."_

_"So, you haven't told him yet."_

_Jack heard Brenna sigh, and felt another chill rush through him at the sound. _

_"No," she answered soberly. "I would like to see him regain his strength at least a little before laying that burden on him. Darien did a great deal of damage, Leesa – both physical and psychological. When he woke up a few minutes earlier, the first thing he asked was where his master was."_

_"Shakkran," Leesa snarled softly._

_"Exactly. I just don't believe he is ready to deal with another shock on top of everything he has already been through."_

_"Surely it couldn't be too much of a shock," Leesa mused, and Jack fancied that he could almost hear her frowning. "After all, he must know that his body is capable of bearing children."_

_Jack's eyes snapped open; all remnants of sleep gone. Brenna and Leesa turned as one, and Brenna uttered a sound of dismay as she hurried to his side. Oblivious to her presence, Jack's wild eyes went to his stomach, currently shielded from view by a warm blanket. He threw the cover back, heedless that he was naked underneath, to stare in horror at the currently taut, albeit badly bruised flesh of his abdomen._

_"I'm not… I can't be…"_

_He could barely speak, both for the shock and the strain on his vocal chords. _

_"Hush," Brenna murmured, but Jack tried to pull away from her as his distress rapidly escalated. _

_"Take it out! Get it out of me!"_

_Her hands grasped the sides of his head firmly, making him look at her. _

_"Listen to me. You are in shock, and not thinking clearly. When you have had the opportunity to think this situation, though, then make your choice. But not now."_

_Tears filled Jack's eyes and spilled down his cheeks. _

_"He did it… It was him…"_

_Brenna shifted her hold on him so that she was cradling him to her as he wept._

_"We know, but I promise we will look after you." She brushed her fingertips over his temples, and a sigh escaped him as his mind and body succumbed to exhaustion. "Sleep now," Brenna murmured sadly. "Sleep, and heal."  
_

_

* * *

_

_  
Jack slept. Aided in part by the gentle suggestive powers of the Chief Healer, Jack slept a solid and blessedly dreamless sleep for the next three days. When he eventually awoke again, his mind was clearer than it had been since Darien had first taken him. For a long while he just lay quietly, grateful for the warmth of the blankets, the softness of the pillows, and the comfort of the bed in general. The only comfort that his master had afforded him, despite all his promises and platitudes, had been that hard and narrow bed, with just one thin, scratchy blanket. _

_He shuddered involuntarily as he realised belatedly that he was still thinking of Darien as his master. He had only been in Darien's control for a month or so, and yet the man had managed to well and truly screw his head around. _

_"I am afraid that is what he is best at."_

_Jack turned his head slowly towards the source of the voice, and was grateful not to suffer any ill effects for the effort. Sitting by the bedside was the man who had come across him on the road, and had ultimately saved him. A frown creased Jack's brow as he tried to recall his name._

_"My name is Jal," he said in response to Jack's unspoken question. "This is our largest Healing House, and you are on the planet Mendyr." Jal smiled kindly at him. "You don't have anything to fear, Jack. The Elder Council met the day after your rescue, and again yesterday. They have a great deal of sympathy for you, and have determined that you should receive the best possible care… whatever your decision may be."_

_Unable to help himself, Jack glanced down the length of his body, and was slightly disturbed to find that his hands had folded themselves protectively over his stomach._

_"You know?" he asked in a small voice, feeling his face heat up with humiliation. Jal reached across and laid a hand gently over Jack's. _

_"Yes. Don't be ashamed. We are well aware of the ability of some human males to bear children. Despite the circumstances of conception, you are still considered to be blest."_

_Jack cringed at his choice of words. Blest was not the word he would have used to describe his situation. _

_"What if I decide I don't want it?" he asked, quietly dreading the answer, despite Jal's earlier reassurance. "What if I want to terminate it? What will happen to me then?"_

_The bitterness and anxiety that he felt turned to surprise when Jal did not withdraw his hand, and continued to smile kindly._

_"You are our guest, Jack. We'll support you no matter what you decide."_

_"Why?" Jack burst out, startling Jal a little. "I'm a stranger, I don't belong here. Why does anyone here even care? Why are you all being so kind to me?"_

_Jal was still trying to form a response when Brenna approached._

_"That's enough for today, Jal. He needs to rest. You may come back tomorrow."_

_Jal nodded, and quietly vacated the room. Jack watched him go with a feeling of regret. He hadn't meant to take out his fears and frustrations on the kindly old man, but he just couldn't bring himself to accept that he was no longer in any danger. The stress of it was almost more than he could tolerate._

_"He's been here every day," Brenna said quietly while she saw to Jack's injuries, "sitting with you for hours at a time. First when you were ill from infection, and then whilst you slept. He stood up to accept responsibility for you at the Council Gathering yesterday. It wasn't necessary, of course, but the gesture was noted all the same."_

_"I appreciate it," Jack murmured, "but I still don't understand. Why does he... why does anyone here care about what happens to me?"_

_Brenna paused in her ministrations and regarded him sadly._

_"You should remember that Darien enslaved you, child. He enslaved you, and lied to keep you in servitude. We are a private people, but we also pride ourselves on being fair and reasonable. Whatever the circumstances of your situation, it is obvious to us that you are the victim here. We would never lay blame on your for something that you had no control over. I wonder, though... You wouldn't ask such a question unless you were unused to having anyone to care about you. Tell me, child, what has happened in your life to make you believe you are so unworthy of being loved?"_

_Jack stayed silent, but nothing he could do could prevent the painful images from his past that tore through his mind. He was crying before he realised it, and had no strength to object when Brenna embraced him._

_"We have accepted you as our own, dear one. Here, you are loved."  
_

_

* * *

_

_  
For a long time, Jack's only concept of love and acceptance had been attached to sex. To use and abuse – it was a gross parody of marriage vows that his time with Darien had only served to enforce. Now, he suddenly found himself faced with a level of acceptance and care – if not love – that he wasn't fully capable of comprehending. In the end, he gave up trying. It was far easier in the long run to just accept the kindness that was on offer, and he found himself much happier for it._

_Over the following days, Jal visited him frequently, and it wasn't long before Jack came to look forward to those visits. It was noticeable by all who cared for him that after a visit from Jal, Jack's mood was considerably lighter. Jack personally soon realised that he was beginning to view Jal as a surrogate father figure, and it seemed to be a role which Jal willingly embraced. His wife, Kyrii, had also taken a shine to Jack, and before long she'd begun to bring him hot, home-cooked meals, among other delicacies and treats. _

_Jack looked forward to seeing them both. They had a visible positive effect on him, the likes of which he hadn't had in his life for a long time. They were enough of a positive influence that before long Brenna permitted them to take Jack outside to the gardens for brief periods each day._

_"We are going to need to teach you our language, Jack," Kyrii said with a smile as Brenna's aid pushed Jack's wheelchair into a garden that was resplendent with native flora. "Now that you're able to go outside, I expect there'll be a lot of people wishing to meet you."_

_Jack's attention slowly wound its way back to Kyrii. _

_Like Jal, she had a kind face that was slightly wrinkled with age. Her face was framed with greying hair that was still thick and wavy, and her eyes were a deep blue that positively sparkled every time she smiled. She was beautiful in Jack's eyes, and it didn't take much for Jack to come to love her dearly._

_Even the comforting presence of her and Jal couldn't completely allay his fears, though. As much as he was pleased to be outside, he couldn't help the apprehension that curled through his stomach. Darien was yet to be found, and Jack would not rest easy until he was securely in the custody of the Elder Council._

_A hand on his cheek drew him gently back to reality, and he looked up into Jal's kindly brown eyes. _

_"You're safe, Jack. He can't get to you."_

_"I know," Jack conceded. "I just... I guess I'm not going to be able to feel totally safe until he's been found."_

_"We know, sweetheart," Kyrii said, firing a warning look at her husband. Jal understood, and wisely kept quiet. _

_"Hang on," Jack said suddenly as Kyrii's earlier words finally registered with him. "If Commonspeak isn't the main language here..."_

_"It is taught to the children, but not many retain the knowledge as adults," Jal explained. "It would benefit you to be able to learn at least the basics of our language. However, as you know we do use Commonspeak, as does Brenna, her Healers, the Elder and Lesser Councils... Mostly anyone in a professional position on Mendyr. So you can be assured that you won't have to learn Mendyrian by tomorrow."_

_There was yet another thing for Jack to worry about. He was due to face the Elder Council tomorrow, the members of which had apparently decide they wanted to see him in person. Tomorrow was the first day that Brenna had been willing to let him be taken away from the sanctuary of the Healing House, and its surrounding gardens._

_He didn't know what to think of it all, and the truth was that he was more than a little scared. In all, it was just one more thing to be worried about._

_"Jack?" Jal asked. "What are you thinking?"_

_"Don't you know already?" he snapped in reply, and instantly regretted the outburst. "I'm sorry, Jal. I didn't mean that. I... I'm just confused."_

_Jal grasped his hand lightly. _

_"We do understand. And no, as a matter of fact, I don't know what you're thinking. As your health has improved, so too have your mental defences. I suppose I could force my way in, but I am not Darien. I wouldn't do that to you."_

_"Thankyou," Jack whispered gratefully. "I... I guess I'm just trying to get it all straight in my mind. The Council wants me to decide, don't they? About the baby, I mean."_

_"Yes," Jal admitted, "but it's for your own sake. If you decide to end the pregnancy, then it should be done sooner rather than later."_

_"I'm scared of how everyone will react if I do decide to do that," Jack admitted. "You've all be so kind to me..."_

_Kyrii leaned in to hug him, effectively silencing his concerns. _

_"Oh, Jack, that's not going to chance. Yes, we hope that you will choose to see the pregnancy through, but no one is going to turn on you if you don't. What happened to you was not your fault. Please try to believe that."_

_Jack felt fresh tears threaten, and blinked them back. Brenna had told him that the extra hormones his body was producing would make him emotional, but he honestly hadn't expected it to start so soon._

_"That's the thing, though," he admitted, and wasn't game enough to look either of his friends in the eye. "It was my fault... at least partially."_

_"And how, exactly, did you come to that conclusion?" Jal asked quietly._

_Despite his fears, Jack gradually found himself telling them all about the Time Agency investigation, and the way that he and John had effectively messed it up, placing both themselves and their fellow agents in danger. _

_"I don't even know if John's alive," Jack said in a stricken tone. "I let him talk me into it, and now he might be dead... and all because my damned ego couldn't cope with letting someone else run the operation!"_

_"You really think you deserve what was done to you because of one error of judgement?" Kyrii asked in shock and dismay. Jack stared at her with such self-loathing that it brought tears to her eyes._

_"Don't I?"_

_"No, you certainly don't!" she answered fiercely. "No one deserves that. You might not believe it right now, but I hope that you will before too long."_

_She hugged him again, and was still hugging him when Brenna appeared._

_"Jack," she said with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid your outing will need to be cut short today. You have visitors waiting for you inside."_

_Confusion lit up his face._

_"Visitors? Who...?"_

_She smiled encouragingly at him, if somewhat nervously._

_"The Elder Council is here."  
_

_

* * *

  
to be continued...._


	20. Interlude Six: Confrontations

_Jack hadn't really known what to expect. He knew that Leesa and Krandl, who had been present at Jal's house after he escaped from Darien, were both on the Elder Council and that neither of them seemed to be particularly old. Even so, he still half expected to be brought back in to face a group of stodgy, grey-haired old men. It was an effort to conceal his surprise to find his assumption couldn't have been further removed from reality._

_The Elder Council consisted of seven; four women and three men. All were reasonably young in appearance, and there was not a single grey hair to be seen on any of them._

_As he was brought into the room – it was a lounge area that had been set aside for visitors – a woman who was short in stature but long on grace, and radiated authority, came forward to greet him._

_"Hello, Jack. My name is Anna. I am head of the Elder Council. It is good to meet you properly, at last."_

_The kindness and understanding in her eyes was almost as hard to stomach as Darien's calculated cruelty, and he found himself flinching away from her penetrating gaze._

_"Jal, you are welcome to remain," Leesa spoke up as the older man turned to leave. "You too, Kyrii, if Jack would prefer it."_

_"Do you want us to stay?" Kyrii asked, and Jack answered with a wordless nod, never so grateful for the support._

_"All right, then," Anna said once they were all settled. "I won't delay in speaking the necessities, because it's obvious how frightened you are. Jack, the Elder Council has decided to extend to you the same full rights and protection as is the privilege of every Mendyrian. Your pregnancy is not a factor in that decision. You were wronged by one of our own, and therefore we accept you as one of our own. Whether you choose to terminate the pregnancy or carry the child to full term, you will be treated as one of us for as long as you choose to remain on our world. Will you accept our offer of kinship?"_

_Jack's breath caught in his throat. As a trained Time Agent, he knew only too well the magnitude of the offer before him. He thought numbly of his past years, looking for a level of love and acceptance that no one except John had been willing to give. Now, suddenly, it was being offered to him on a silver platter, no strings attached._

_"You will be free to leave at any time once you've fully healed," Anna went on. "But in the meantime, know that you have a home here. And should you wish to carry the pregnancy through, we can offer you the best possible care."_

_Jack's attention returned to his stomach. He tried to envisage it large and rounded, with new life growing within, and was quietly surprised that the idea didn't frighten him as it had to begin with._

_"I… I don't know if I can look after her," he admitted softly. "I'm not sure if I should."_

_With his gaze cast downwards, Jack missed the knowing looks shared amongst the Elders. None of them had missed Jack's reference to the baby as 'her' rather than 'it'._

_"There are options," one of the Elders spoke quietly. Jack looked up at him, not quite daring to hope that there could be a palatable alternative. As much as he doubted his ability to adequately care for a child, neither did he really want to abort the pregnancy._

_"What options?" he asked tentatively._

_"Well, should you see it through," Anna said, "there is always the option to allow her to be adopted by another family. That, of course, is not a decision you would need to make until after the birth."_

_"Alternatively," Leesa added, "if you wish, you may leave Mendyr and return home."_

_The word 'home' struck a painful chord, and brought unexpected tears to Jack's eyes. He wiped them away roughly in frustration._

_"I don't have a home," he admitted. "I haven't had a home since… well, for a long time. The closest thing I had was at the Time Agency. I… I'm used to it."_

_"Have you no family?" Krandl asked, and again painful memories flowed through Jack's mind._

_"No," he answered in a whisper. "Not anymore."_

_Kyrii came up beside him, and closed her hand over his._

_"Stay with us, Jack. Let us take care of you."_

_There was ultimately no other choice to be made, he realised, and the more he thought about it, the more he knew that terminating the pregnancy was not an option. Neither was leaving Mendyr, for he knew only too well what would happen if his superiors at the Time Agency were to learn that he was pregnant to a man of Darien's phenomenal power. They would want the baby to raise as a weapon, and he refused to allow that to happen._

_"I'll stay."_

_He spoke the words so softly that even he barely heard them. Nevertheless, the Elders seemed to hear clearly enough._

_"And we welcome you wholeheartedly," Anna affirmed with a smile. "As for the child?"_

_"I'll see it through," he answered, rubbing his hands unconsciously over his stomach. "I'll have her… but I don't know that I can keep her."_

_"We will help you to make that decision when the time comes," Anna said. "Not before."_

_Jack sighed and felt a weight lift off his shoulders that he hadn't even known existed._

_"Thankyou."_

_

* * *

_

_He healed slowly from his injuries; his body struggled to compensate for the pressures suddenly being placed on it by the pregnancy. Two weeks on from his meeting with the Elder Council, Jack suffered a relapse of the infection that had nearly claimed his life. Although nowhere near as bad, he still slipped in and out of delirium and fever, and it was nearly another two weeks before he recovered properly from it. It was another month beyond that before Brenna finally judged him well enough to leave the Healing House._

_Two months, Jack reflected as he sat in a chair by the window in his room, enjoying the gentle breeze. He was just over two months along and was just starting to show. His fingers moved slowly over the bump that had finally begun to appear over the last couple of weeks._

_He still found it hard to comprehend all that had happened, and was happening. Never in his imaginings had he thought he would ever find himself taken in on a planet such as this, and with a child. Part of him cursed the odd mix of genetic engineering and evolution that had allowed him to wind up in this situation, but he could also see the good beyond the bad._

_The Time Agency, which had apparently written him off as dead, had been contacted by the Elder Council on his behalf. Anna had apparently informed them firstly of his wellbeing, and secondly of his decision to remain on Mendyr. Needless to say, the Agency's response had been less than polite. Krandl had informed him later on, with much amusement, that Jack was 'under orders' to return to the Agency for debriefing and his next assignment._

_Apparently, Anna had told Jack's employers in no uncertain terms that he was done with them, and that he was officially under the protection of the Elder Council. Of all the descriptions that Krandl had given him in the wake of that particular conversation, Jack thought that his favourite was probably 'speechless and frothing at the mouth'. It was a description that he could just picture if the one doing the frothing was the commander that he suspected it to be._

_He didn't regret his decision to leave the Agency. Regardless of whether he stayed on Mendyr permanently, or eventually chose to leave, it was a good feeling to be looked after for once – to be cared for by others. He appreciated that more than he could say._

_"Ready to go, then?"_

_Jack smiled as Jal walked in. In two short months, he had come to see Jal more as a father than a friend. It seemed that Jal viewed him similarly, because the older man had insisted that Jack come to stay with him and Kyrii upon leaving the Healing House. Kyrii had agreed, and Jack had consented if only because he had nowhere else to go. There was no discomforting sense of obligation on either side, though. The couple had accepted him into their family and home, just as the Elder Council had accepted him into their community._

_Now, Jack didn't feel that he was intruding, but rather that he was going home, and it was a damned good feeling._

_"Yes," he answered. "Thankyou, Jal. I know you didn't have to do this."_

_"We love you, Jack. It's as simple as that. You are as a son to us, and we would not have it any other way."_

_Jack sighed softly._

_"I love you both, too," he admitted, and quietly marvelled at how easily he was able to say those words. "I don't know what I would have done without you."_

_Jal smiled and, in a moment of affection, pressed a kiss to the top of Jack's head._

_"You're a survivor, Jack. You would have been all right, one way or another. The point is that now, you don't have to just survive. You have a home now for as long as you want it, and a family that loves you."_

_"I know," Jack said. His fingers played lightly over his stomach. "I can't ever repay you for everything you've done for me."_

_"And I don't want you to think that you need to. I just want you to be safe and happy. Now, I think we should get moving, son. Kyrii will be getting anxious."_

_Jack grinned, and happily let Jal escort him from the place that had effectively been his home for the last two months._

_

* * *

_

_That evening, as they sat down to a meal prepared by Kyrii, they fell to discussing the coming months, and what difficulties those months might bring._

_"You must tell us what interests you," Kyrii said. "Brenna tells us that you might not be able to move very far in the last couple of months. Do you like to read? We could bring some books home for you."_

_Jack's breath caught in his throat, and his face whitened by a couple of shades._

_"What is it?" Jal asked in concern. "Jack? What's wrong?"_

_He couldn't bring himself to answer. The last thing he wanted was to bring down any sort of pall on the home that he had been welcomed into, and so he forced a smile onto his face._

_"I'm okay."_

_Judging by the looks on their faces, they didn't believe it anymore than he did. Avoiding their gazes, Jack got awkwardly to his feet._

_"I'm sorry, I'm not really hungry. I... I might just go to bed... if that's okay."_

_"If that's what you want," Jal conceded. Jack went, hearing the concerned murmurs behind him, but paying them no heed. All he wanted was to escape their presence before he lost what little control he had and broke down completely._

_

* * *

_

_He woke up screaming in the darkness, his mind tormented by visions of Darien that lingered beyond his nightmares. When arms closed around him he went rigid in terror, but the pain that he was anticipating never came._

_"Hush, now. You're safe, it's all right."_

_He recognised Kyrii's voice, and sagged against her in relief. She cradled him and stroked his hair soothingly, all the while murmuring reassurances._

_"I'm sorry," Jack whispered brokenly once he had the presence of mind to realise that he must have woken her up. She huffed softly, and he almost giggled at the tickling sensation across his ear._

_"Don't be. We suspected that you might suffer nightmares once you were away from the boundaries of the Healing House. You've nothing to be ashamed of. Come, now. Jal is preparing a warm drink for you."_

_

* * *

_

_Minutes later, Jack sat at the kitchen table, sipping a hot, sweet drink while he tried to explain the nightmare._

_"It was him," Jack admitted, unwilling now to even say Darien's name. "It wasn't really clear... but he knew about my baby, and he tried to take her."_

_"The Elders will find him, Jack," Jal assured him. "He can't run forever."_

_"Who is he?" Jack asked, looking up at them through red-rimmed eyes. "Why is he so powerful?"_

_"You know that Mendyrians have what you humans call psychic ability," Jal said. Jack nodded wordlessly, waiting for Jal to go on. He did, in a sober tone._

_"Our power is as natural to us as breathing, and we can strengthen our individual abilities with practise, as you would any skill. Each Mendyrian is born with a certain level of power that is inherited directly from their parents. Firstborn children are always particularly strong."_

_"And he's a firstborn," Jack whispered._

_"Darien was the firstborn son of a former Head Elder. His father was an arrogant and cruel man, and he only gained the position through much careful manipulation. Once there, he wreaked havoc. He held the belief that the position of Head Elder should be an inherited position, passed from father to son. It's a belief that he instilled in his own child. Domic was killed when Darien was only eighteen by your reckoning, and he was enraged that the position of Head Elder was not granted to him automatically. He fought with the Elder Council, and lost. He exiled himself to the outer regions, constructed a ship and began to travel off-world. There was an initial attempt to stop him, but in the end the Elder Council chose to leave him be. Had they known what he was doing, they would have stopped him, but unfortunately…"_

_Jal trailed off, favouring his wife with a grim look. Kyrii noted it with an equally grim expression._

_"How many others?" Jack wondered as Jal's words sank in. "How many others before me?"_

_It was not a question any of them could answer, and Jack was fairly sure that he didn't want to know. The likelihood that he was the only one of many to have escaped Darien's sadism was almost too much to bear._

_"We are sorry, Jack," Kyrii said quietly. "You are a victim here purely because we failed to curb Darien when we should have."_

_At first, Jack thought that Kyrii's choice of phrase was purely coincidental. Slowly, though, he registered the look on her face, and realised that it wasn't._

_"You were an Elder."_

_It wasn't a question, and she didn't try to deny it._

_"I retired my position less than a year ago," she admitted. "Jack, there's something I have to tell you, and when you hear it, you may not wish to stay here any longer. It was I who recommended that we leave Darien alone to do as he liked. As long as Darien wasn't hurting his own people, I didn't care. I was so wrong, and I can only hope you'll forgive me."_

_Jack met the confession with silence. It would have been so easy to lay the blame on her, especially with Darien still missing. It would have been so easy to redirect his anger towards her, and he knew that they wouldn't have blamed him for doing so. He could have even justified it in his own mind._

_As he sat there, trying to absorb everything, a nasty, sardonic voice whispered that everything was Kyrii's fault, and that he was entirely justified in taking his anger out on her. It was a little voice that he very quickly dismissed._

_Without getting up out of his seat, Jack leaned across and threw his arms around Kyrii in a ferocious hug._

_"Wasn't your fault," he said in a voice that was muffled by her shoulder. "I don't want to leave. Please don't make me go."_

_"We'd never make you leave," Kyrii murmured. She glanced over the top of Jack's head to look at her husband, and saw a look of relief that she imagined mirrored her own. Jal had been as worried as she over how Jack would react to learning that particular truth._

_"I'm scared of him," Jack admitted miserably when he eventually sat back. "I'm so scared that he'll come for me again. He said… when he first brought me here to Mendyr… He said that even if I managed to escape, that he'd hunt me down. He said I'd never be free again."_

_"We will protect you," Jal promised vehemently. "You and the child will both be safe."_

_Jack sighed softly, and stroked his fingers lightly over his stomach._

_"I believe you."_

_

* * *

_

_At five months, just beyond the halfway mark, Jack was invited to join a class of young Mendyrian women, all of whom were expecting. He was reluctant to go, and gave in only when Kyrii promised to accompany him. Any embarrassment he may have felt was quickly eradicated, though, by the warm welcome extended to him by the group. More and more, Jack wondered how Darien could be so cruel when the rest of his people were so kind._

_The women quickly became some of the best friends he'd known for a long time, and in particular a young woman called Maera. Slightly younger than Jack, she nonetheless took him under her wing to ensure that he was not left out. It would not be until much later when Jack fully comprehended just how extensive her care towards him had been._

_

* * *

_

_"What are you doing?"_

_He'd arrived for the group's weekly meeting to find Maera lying on her back on the floor, eyes closed and her hands resting flat against her belly._

_"Talking to my little one." She opened one eye and smiled in his direction. "I connected with him for the first time last night. It was amazing, Jack. It is amazing. You have to try it."_

_He looked suddenly apprehensive._

_"I… I don't think I can. I'm not like you, Maera. I don't have that sort of power."_

_"Rubbish," she snorted, and sat up awkwardly. "Come over here and sit down. C'mon, hurry up."_

_Jack hurried to do as she said; he was not game enough to argue further. As much as he liked Maera, he'd seen her lose her temper and had decided right from the outset that he never wanted to be on the receiving end. With that thought on his mind, he eased himself onto one of the big cushions on the floor and settled himself as best as he could. His belly was expanding rapidly now, and it wouldn't be long before he couldn't sit on the floor at all. It was a thrilling feeling that he just wasn't quite ready to embrace._

_"All right," Maera said in a quiet, confident tone. "Close your eyes and try to relax."_

_"I am," he answered, only to be put out by her laughter._

_"Sweetheart, you're like a board of wood. Loosen up. Slouch a little! You're pregnant, give yourself a break!"_

_He had to smile at her admonishment, and made a conscious effort to relax his body._

_"That's better," she murmured. "Now, first I have to ask. Do you trust me?"_

_"Yes," Jack responded without hesitation. He did trust her, just as he trusted Jal and Kyrii, and everyone else who had shown him love and kindness in the wake of Darien's treatment of him. "I trust you."_

_"All right, then. Close your eyes, Jack. Relax and open your mind to me. Don't be afraid. I won't go charging about like that sorry druikkia Darien. I won't hurt you."_

_He let his breath out with a shudder. He did trust her, but that didn't change his reticence. Even so, he did as she asked, and let her into his mind._

_Darien had made a habit of forcing his way into Jack's mind and, as Maera had suggested, charging about like a mad rhino. Often, Jack had been left incapacitated for hours after such an invasion. By comparison, though, Maera entering his mind felt more like the touch cool water on overheated flesh. It comforted and reassured him, and helped him to relax. He sighed faintly, and almost leant into her mental touch, unconsciously relaxing his defences and giving her access._

_Maera was true to her word, and diligently avoided touching on those memories which were painful to him. What he did sense, though, was a deliberate strengthening of his own mind – almost as though the psychic contact was acting as a booster shot._

_A small gasp escaped him as he felt his mind opening up like a flower, and he tensed momentarily at the unfamiliar sensations that washed over him in the wake of Maera's touch._

**_Relax, sweetheart. Nothing to be afraid of._**

_**Maera? What's going on? What did you do?**_

_He wasn't speaking out loud, he realised with a start, and neither was she._

_**Open your eyes, Jack. It's perfectly safe, I promise.**_

_He was almost afraid to, but in the end curiosity ruled over fear. When he looked, Maera was sitting back and watching him with a grin._

_"What did you just do?" he asked again, aloud this time._

_"I broadened your horizons, my love."_

_Jack rubbed ruefully at his temples. There was an odd buzzing sensation in his head, not unlike the sound of bees. It wasn't so much unpleasant as merely disconcerting._

_"You… gave me powers?"_

_Her laughter both embarrassed and relaxed him._

_"Gave you? Oh, no, Jack. We can't give anyone powers. No, sweetheart, you had the ability all along. You just needed a bit of a boost to help you along. Don't worry, though. We'll all help you learn to use it, even if all you have is telepathy. Speaking of which, lesson one is right now. Put your hands over your stomach… Right, like you saw me doing before. Now, I want you to relax again. Yes, shut your eyes if you need to. Relax, and turn your focus inwards. Look for another consciousness inside you."_

_A slight frown creased Jack's features._

_"I'm not sure I know how, Maera."_

_"Oh, yes you do. It's like being in a dark room, and reaching out to find the only other person there. It's instinctive. Now try."_

_Jack huffed a little in annoyance, but gave in and reached out within himself, searching for what Maera had described. The startled gasp that escaped his lips moments later told her that he'd found it._

_"Tell me, Jack," she said eagerly. "What can you sense?"_

_Jack's hands rubbed soothingly over his own belly, and tears worked their way unbidden out of his closed eyes._

_"I… I can feel her… my little girl. I can feel trust… and love… Oh god… I can feel her love. No one's ever loved me like this… Not since my dad died, and Gray was…" His eyes snapped open, and he stared at Maera in stunned realisation. "She's mine, not Darien's. She's going to be my little girl…"_

_Maera leaned forward and kissed him lightly._

_"She already is, my sweet one. She already is."_

_

* * *

_

_Later on, Jack realised that Maera had been more than a little devious in her actions, but he had no inclination to be mad at her. Instead, he found himself to be grateful for the incredible gift that she had given him. He was no constantly aware of his daughter's consciousness as she grew within him, and that sense of love and trust was like a blanket that warmed him thoroughly._

_He loved the life that was growing inside him more than he'd loved anything, and he found it no longer bothered him to know who was responsible for his pregnancy._

_By the time Jack reached his eighth month, he knew that giving up his child was no longer an option. He suspected it was what the Elder Council had been subtly pushing him towards all along, and that Maera's opening up of his mind to his unborn child had been a very sly part of their plan. Though he held no resentment towards anyone, he couldn't stop thinking about it, and he broached the subject one day with Kyrii._

_"I don't understand," Jack admitted. "I know the Council accepted me, and I appreciate it. But I would have thought that they would have wanted to give Li-Li to a Mendyrian family to be raised… well…"_

_"Properly?" Kyrii suggested, and Jack nodded._

_"Something like that. I just didn't think they'd want me to be the one to raise her… but they do, don't they? That's why they wouldn't let me make the decision to give her up at least until after she was born, because they wanted to give me a chance to form a bond with her. And they knew that once I did that, I wouldn't want to give her up."_

_Kyrii was watching him with a bright, warm smile._

_"She's your baby, Jack. You deserve the chance to raise her, and to love her. No one wants to take that from you. The Elder Council knew that you just needed time to accept her. And you have now, haven't you?"_

_Jack rubbed his hands over his belly. At eight months, he looked like he had a beach ball shoved up his shirt. He complained on a daily basis about looking fat; about his inability to walk more than a dozen steps at a time before needing a rest; and most of all, needing to pee five minutes after every time he drank so much as a mouthful of water. Beyond all the complaints, though, it was no secret that he'd loved experiencing the pregnancy._

_"She's my baby," he confirmed quietly. "My Li-Li."_

_"Li-Li?"_

_"Nickname," Jack confessed. "I'm going to call her Eleya."_

_"That's beautiful, Jack," Kyrii enthused. "It's a lovely name. Is it your mother's name?"_

_"No, it was my great grandmother's. I never actually knew her, but Mom had some great stories to tell about her."_

_Kyrii paused, seeing the sudden melancholy in the young man's eyes._

_"Jack, love, what happened to your mother? You've never talked about her before. Is she still alive?"_

_"She's still alive," Jack answered softly. "But I don't think she cares if I am."_

_"Oh, I find that hard to believe. All mothers care for their sons."_

_Jack looked up at her finally, and she was taken aback to see that all signs of happiness had fled his face._

_"Our colony was invaded. Creatures… the worst things you could imagine… I was only fourteen when they attacked us, and decimated us. So many people died that day, my dad included."_

_"I'm so sorry," Kyrii whispered. Jack went on as though he hadn't heard her._

_"I was supposed to look after Gray, my little brother, but his hand slipped out of mine. I lost him… I lost him to the monsters."_

_Kyrii saw the bitter truth in his face before Jack had a chance to say it aloud._

_"She blamed you for losing him, didn't she?"_

_"Yes," Jack whispered. Tears spilled down his cheeks at the painful memories. "When we were with the other survivors, waiting for rescue, I tried to hug her. She slapped me across the face, and told me I didn't deserve comfort. She… She told me she wished it had been me that had been taken instead of Gray… That I'd been killed instead of Dad."_

_Kyrii pulled Jack into her arms and held him tightly as he wept._

_"She was wrong to tell you that, Jack. It wasn't your fault, and you deserved better."_

_"How can you say that?" Jack choked out. "You weren't there!"_

_He tried to pull away from her, but she refused to let him go, and eventually he gave up struggling and slumped against her once more._

_"I may not have been there," she murmured, "but I can see how deeply you love. I don't believe you deliberately abandoned your brother, either. Bad things happen, Jack. We can't always stop them. You have to stop blaming yourself."_

_"It's not that easy," Jack sobbed. She rubbed his back gently._

_"I know, precious. I know."_

_

* * *

_

_He wept himself into a thorough state of exhaustion, and eventually allowed Kyrii to guide him back to bed. She then sat with him until he calmed down. Once he was on the cusp of sleep, she left him to go and stoke the fire in the living room._

_Jack watched her go through sleep-heavy eyes, exhaustion threatening to claim him. He drifted a while, somewhere in between sleep and waking. It could have been minutes or hours that slipped past; he had no way of knowing. All he did know was that he was just about ready to let sleep take him when a loud crash from beyond his bedroom door shattered the peace and quiet._

_He started up in fright, his heart pounding almost painfully in his chest. It was okay, he told himself. It was fine – Kyrii had just knocked something over. Something extraordinarily big and heavy, by the sounds of it… Suddenly afraid that she might have hurt herself, Jack manoeuvred his way out of bed – a process that had him feeling like a beached whale – and waddled to the closed door. He was about to open the door and call out to her when he heard her voice speak up in breathless anger._

_"Jack is not yours! You have no claim to him, you filthy shakkran!"_

_And then, a familiar, silky voice spoke, the sound of which nearly stopped Jack's heart._

_"There's really no need for that sort of crudity. And I believe I have quite a strong claim to him, especially now… That is, if my source was not lying to me. Now, I really don't care to pick a fight with you."_

_"Because you know I'm stronger than you," Kyrii's voice snapped, and Jack smiled weakly at her audacity. Darien continued to speak, though, as if Kyrii hadn't said a word._

_"So you're going to stay right here like a good girl while I go and get my pet."_

_Silence… followed by a strangled cry of pain that was very definitely masculine in its sound. A moment beyond that, Kyrii spoke in a harsh, angry voice that sent chills down Jack's spine._

_"You always were far too arrogant for your own good, Darien. If you think I'm going to just sit back and let you take that boy again, you are sadly mistaken. I meant what I said. You have no claim to him, and I will defend him with everything I have."_

_Whether Darien replied or not, Jack couldn't hear. There was an all-too-brief moment of silence, and then a heavy thud accompanied by a cry of pain that most certainly came from Kyrii. There was the sound of a wood scraping on wood, then another thump, and finally a bone-jarring crash and a how of pain and rage that erupted immediately after. Desperate to know what was happening, Jack finally flung open his door and stumbled out onto a shocking scene._

_Kyrii stood nearby, nursing an arm that was very obvious broken. Darien was closer to him, but pinned to the floor by the heavy shelving unit that had previously stood against the wall next to the fireplace. The mere sight of him was almost enough to send Jack into shock, and it took real effort to hear what Kyrii was saying to him._

_"Jack, go back to your room, and stay there." She wasn't merely asking – she was begging him. "Let me deal with him, please."_

_"No, Jack, don't," Darien hissed. Abruptly, the shelving unit that was pinning him down cracked cleanly in two. A glance at Kyrii as he stood saw her swept roughly off her feet once more. Her head struck the little refreshment table as she went down, leaving her momentarily stunned._

_As he rounded on Jack, Kyrii spoke to him telepathically, conveying all the urgency and terror of the situation in her thoughts._

_**Get to your room, quickly! It's shielded, and he won't be able to reach you. Hurry, Jack! Protect yourself and Eleya!**_

_Jack took a stumbling step backwards at her desperate plea. He didn't go any further, though; he was brought to a shuddering halt by the sight of Kyrii's battered and helpless figure. If he fled, Darien would most likely kill her, and Jack knew he could never live with himself if he allowed that to happen. As desperate as he was to protect his unborn child, he refused to sacrifice the woman who had effectively become a surrogate mother to him._

_Teetering on the brink of terror and rage, Jack looked Darien in the eye and faced his nightmare head-on._

_"I won't go with you," he said, and wondered that his voice didn't break. Darien, for his part, looked amused rather than annoyed._

_"Is that so, pet? You don't honestly think you have any choice in the matter, do you?"_

_It took everything Jack had not to show any outward signs of weakness in front of Darien, but even so he could not keep his hands from curling protectively around his belly. Darien's piercing stare moved downwards, and a knowing smirk twisted his lips._

_"I didn't believe it when I first heard. But now I see that it is true. You carry my child."_

_"She's not yours," Jack snarled, engulfed by a wave of protectiveness and possessiveness. "She won't ever be yours!"_

_To his increasing frustration and anxiety, Darien laughed._

_"Oh, my precious pet. She will always be my child, in one way or another. Now, I will give you just once chance. Submit to me now, and I will take care of both you and the child."_

_Jack was horrified to find that he wanted to believe Darien. He could feel the man's pull on his psyche, and he could feel that haze threatening to descend on him yet again. Beyond that, though, he heard another sound that cut straight through to his heart. It was the sound of Kyrii weeping, and begging him to fight Darien's influence. He shut his eyes for a moment, and sought out that tiny presence inside himself, feeling the love and trust of his unborn child washing over him. In an instant, he made his choice._

_Darien uttered a strangled yelp as Jack suddenly punched him hard in the face, sending him staggering back a few steps._

_"I don't belong to you," Jack yelled, "and neither does my baby!"_

_Darien's eyes went from angry, narrow slits to wide shock as he realised what was happening. He could sense the power gathering in and around Jack like an electrical charge. It wasn't any latent power of Jack's, but rather the power of the child in his womb. Panicked, Darien thrust out at Jack with every ounce of power that he had, intending to obliterate both him and the unborn baby. It wasn't enough._

_Combined with Jack's rage and fear, the force of the unborn's power swamped Darien with devastating effect. In the moments before his heart ruptured violently inside his chest cavity, Darien screamed in agony as his flesh was scored and burned by the combined power of the two bonded minds. Blood flowed from his mouth as his internal organs liquefied and his eyes literally collapsed in their sockets._

_He collapsed to the floor; a sickening gurgling sound was the only noise he could make. His body twitched once, twice, before falling still and silent forever._

_Kyrii stared at Darien's lifeless body with impossibly wide eyes, barely able to believe what she'd just witnessed. Jack's unborn child had used him as a conduit, unleashing a terrifying and destructive power on the one who had threatened them both. She had heard of such things happening in the past, but had never actually witnessed it with her own eyes._

_Slowly, the shock faded, and she saw Jack properly. He was the colour of ash, and was looking sicker with every moment that passed._

_"Jack…?"_

_His bloodshot eyes focused on her, and he took a tentative step forward. A moment later, his knees buckled and he went down with a jarring thud. Kyrii crawled over to him, past Darien, as Jack curled in on himself, clutching in pain at his stomach._

_"It hurts," he moaned in between distressed sobs. "Kyrii… God, it hurts!"_

_She laid her hands lightly against his belly, and gasped in dismay._

_"The baby's coming… Jack, sweetheart, you're in labour."_

_She could see the panic in his eyes, almost as pronounced as the pain._

_"Too early… She's too early. Make it stop, please!"_

_"I can't," Kyrii whispered. "Just hold on, Jack. I'm calling the Elders. We need to get you back to the Healing House. This baby is coming, ready or not."_

_"I don't want to lose her," Jack whimpered, and Kyrii stroked his hair soothingly._

_"Just be strong a little while longer, my love. The Elders are coming."_

_Jack couldn't reply. Pain engulfed him and finally tipped him over the edge into darkness. The last thing he heard was Kyrii begging him to hold on, and then he knew no more._

_

* * *

_

_to be continued...._


	21. Interlude Seven: Lost

_There was no more pain when Jack awoke; just the faintest residual ache. As his awareness grew, he became conscious of the fact that his stomach was considerably flatter than he remembered it being. Then, the memories came back with force, and tears flooded his eyes._

_"Jack?"_

_He heard Brenna's kind voice, and wept harder in bitter anticipation of what she was going to say._

_"She's gone. Eleya's gone… He killed her!"_

_Two cool, dry hands clasped the sides of his head and gently guided him to look off to the side. Jack's breath caught, and his grief was almost instantly forgotten. By his bedside sat a simple crib, and in that crib lay a tiny, sleeping baby.f_

_"You see?" Brenna reassured him. "She's just fine."_

_She lifted the baby carefully out of the crib, and laid her in Jack's waiting arms. The infant stirred as he took her, and her eyes opened to reveal almost luminescent green eyes. Jack's heart skipped a beat, and he was on the verge of panicking when he realised something. She may have inherited Darien's unusual eye colour, but otherwise her eyes were the same as his own. Looking over her tiny body, he quickly realised that the only features that she'd inherited from Darien were her eye colour and hair colour. Through the shock of black hair that adorned her head, he could already make out streaks of silvery white._

_Tears stung Jack's eyes. She was beautiful, and now more than ever he could not conceive of giving her up to another's care._

_"Well, she certainly knows who her daddy is," Brenna said wryly. Jack looked over at her in confusion._

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"That little one has screamed every time she's been held, right from the moment she came into the world. This is the first time she's been quiet. So I say again, she knows who her daddy is."_

_Trembling with emotion, Jack pressed a kiss to his daughter's forehead/_

_"Eleya," he whispered. Her eyes blinked slowly, and her tiny fingers curled around his larger on. "My Eleya."_

_

* * *

_

_Eleya grew quickly. The next twelve months saw Jack settle easily and well into the role of father. It was by no means easy, but not once did Jack regret his decision to keep her. He loved his baby girl more than anything, and refused to be separated from her. Eleya seemed to be of like mind, and tended to scream blue murder if anyone tried to keep her away from Jack for more than a few minutes at a time. By the time she turned one, and was just starting to toddle around on two rather wobbly legs, she'd only just come to accept Jal, Kyrii and, by default, Maera as surrogate carers when Jack was out doing various jobs for the Elder Council._

_She had only just turned one when the Time Agency hierarchy shattered Jack's newfound peace by submitting a formal request for planetary access through the Shadow Proclamation._

_Despite well-founded concerns, the Elder Council had no real legitimate reason to refuse the delegation entry, and so, one year and nine months after his arrival on Mendyr, Jack found himself facing his superiors once more. This time, though, he was not standing alongside an errant partner, but with the full support of the Mendyrian Elder Council behind him._

_He would have been lying if he'd said he didn't enjoy the discomfort on the faces of his commanding officers as they were escorted into the Elder Temple. He'd once experienced a similar discomfort the first time he had entered the temple, but he felt at home there, now, and had no qualms about occupying a chair to the side of the temple. He said nothing, though, and instead focused on the little girl in his arms as Anna rose to face their unwanted guests._

_"We bring greetings on behalf of the Time Agency," Commander Raglan Dorn announced with all the pomposity that Jack remembered him possessing. "We also bring gifts for the Honourable Elders…"_

_"Your greeting is hollow," Anna interrupted coldly, "and you may keep your so-called gifts. We have no need of them. State your business, and then you may leave."_

_Dorn looked seriously affronted, Jack was delighted to see._

_"Madam, this is not protocol…"_

_She cut him off again with an ease that made him squirm._

_"I should hope not. If protocol had been followed to the letter, you would not be here at all. Now, get to the point, Commander, before I lose my patience."_

_Jack could have sworn that Dorn paled a little, but it was just too hard to tell in that light. At any rate, the demand galvanised the man to respond._

_"Simply put, Madam, we are here to collect our agent. We appreciate the care you've provided him, but we feel it is time he returned home and resumed his duties."_

_Anna stared at Dorn for so long that he actually cringed and looked away, much to Jack's astonishment. Anna spoke again in a nonchalant tone._

_"Which agent would this be, Commander? Would you kindly point him out?"_

_Dorn had quickly gone from a light pallor to growing increasingly red-faced. He pointed at Jack in visible aggravation, his thick finger stabbing brutally through the air._

_"He's sitting right there, Madam!"_

_Anna never flinched._

_"I don't see a Time Agent." She looked around at the rest of the Council, breaking her visual hold on Dorn for the first time. "Do any of you?"_

_"Not at all," Leesa answered passively. "I see a citizen of Mendyr with his child."_

_Jack's stomach twisted nastily at the expression on Dorn's face when Leesa spoke. Of course, he'd known that there would be no hiding the truth of Eleya's parentage. Despite her hair and eye colour, she still bore a strong resemblance to him. However, he really did not like the sudden look of hunger on the man's face._

_"His child?" Jaydn Taark echoed in disbelief. "That child is at least one year old. He's only been gone for eleven months!"_

_Jack looked over to Anna in confusion, and she answered with a reassuring smile._

_"Mendyr is a closed world for more reasons than just our love of privacy. Time flows differently here than it does on other worlds. For you, here and now, it has nearly been two years since Darien brought you here. Beyond Mendyr, however, the passage of time only amounts to eleven months."_

_Jack nodded in wordless acceptance. He wasn't going to argue the point. All that mattered to him right then was getting Dorn and his lackeys off Mendyr so that he could move on in his new life with his daughter._

_"How did the child come to be?" Taark demanded to know. A ripple of laughter washed through the Elders._

_"If you don't know the answer to that question, Lieutenant Taark," Krandl said with a sharp laugh, "then it would appear your parents were woefully neglectful with your education."_

_She flushed a bright red, but quickly shook off her embarrassment._

_"You know I didn't mean that. Is the child the product of a sexual assault on our agent? Did your man Darien rape him?"_

_Jack felt himself go cold, but Anna spoke up before he had a chance to._

_"Understand this here and now, all of you," she said in a tone that had every Time Agent in the room flinching. "Darien was never our man. Secondly, the man here in whom you have so much interest is no longer a Time Agent. He has renounced that life in favour of remaining on Mendyr, and you have no claim on him. You surrendered any rights or control when you abandoned him to death."_

_Jack stole a surreptitious glance at his former superiors. Not one of them attempted to dispute the claim of abandonment. Dorn, in fact, tried to defend it._

_"He and his idiot partner not only put the investigation at risk, but the lives of every Time Agent involved. We owed him nothing."_

_Anna's face darkened with fury._

_"And with those words, you just lost the right to petition this Council. Jack has been accepted by us, and he and his child have our protection. Now, take your people and return to your ship. You have until nightfall to refuel and leave."_

_Dorn was visibly fuming at the abrupt dismissal._

_"The Shadow Proclamation…"_

_"Gave you the right to come unhindered to Mendyr," Anna snapped. "It did not give you the right to lay claim to anyone here. Now leave. We will not tolerate your presence here any longer."_

_Dorn turned his angry glare on Jack._

_"This isn't over. We aren't leaving without our rightful property."_

_He didn't wait for a response, storming out with his underlings in tow. Only when they were gone did Jack finally allow himself to react._

_"I should have left Eleya with Jal and Kyrii. Jaydn was right, I am an idiot. Now they know about her, and they'll want her for a weapon!"_

_"It would not have mattered if you had left her with Jal and Kyrii," one of the Elders said quietly. "Commander Dorn already knew about Eleya's existence. Seeing her only confirmed what he already knew."_

_Jack paled considerably, but before he had the chance to really think on that, Anna spoke in a gentle tone that masked a layer of steel._

_"Be calm, Jack. They will be gone by tonight, and then you'll have nothing else to fear."_

_Jack cuddled Eleya to him, unable to keep from worrying. He hoped she was right, but a deeper instinct told him that his troubles were far from over._

_

* * *

_

_Evening._

_Jack watched from a distance as the Time Agency shuttle lifted into the air. Eleya snuggled against his chest, providing comfort just by her presence. He was relieved to see the ship take off, but he wouldn't be completely satisfied until it was gone from Mendyr's atmosphere._

_He heard his name being called, and turned to see Maera approaching, along with her husband and their infant son. Jack smiled, but had no chance to reply. He was momentarily thrown off balance by two flashes of light, and a ripple of vortex energy around him. Lieutenant Taark appeared on one side of him, and a nameless Agency goon on the other. Without uttering a word, they grabbed hold of both him and Eleya, and activated their vortex manipulators._

_Jack's last glimpse of Mendyr was of the horrified look on Maera's face as he and his child were snatched away from the sanctity and security of their home._

_

* * *

_

_Guns. They were the first thing that Jack saw when they materialised on board the shuttle. Lots of guns, and all of them aimed at him and his child._

_"Stand fast, Agent," Dorn ordered him with a smug grin. "Captain, get us out of here before they try to stop us!"_

_Jack held Eleya as tightly as he dared as the shuttle vibrated unpleasantly beneath his feet. He had no intention of relinquishing his hold on his daughter. If they wanted her, they would have to kill him first. Eleya whimpered in his arms, and he murmured softly to her soothing words that he did not believe. Finally, Dorn turned back to his captives with a triumphant and self-satisfied smirk._

_"Taark, take our guests and lock them up. It's a three day journey back to Headquarters. Should be enough time for our agent to cool his heels and remember where his loyalties lie."_

_Taark hesitated._

_"Even the baby, sir?"_

_Dorn raised an eyebrow._

_"Unless you want to try looking after the brat?"_

_Taark grimaced. The point was well made. Everyone knew she had no particular affinity for children._

_"Move," she muttered, prodding Jack lightly with her blaster and ushering him out of the control room._

_

* * *

_

_"You surprise me," Taark said as she secured the cell into which she'd herded Jack and Eleya. "I thought you would have put up some sort of a fight."_

_Jack glared at her through the clear door of the cell._

_"And risk the life of my daughter? I don't think so."_

_Taark chewed lightly on her lip._

_"She wouldn't have been harmed. Dorn wants her too badly. You know that, don't you? That he wants her for the Agency? He thinks she'll be powerful… being half Mendyrian."_

_Jack ignored her, and sat down on the hard bench in the holding cell in order to nurse Eleya more comfortably in his lap. Taark tried again._

_"Look, you need to cooperate here. You owe the Agency…"_

_Jack's head snapped up, and he glared at her with such venom in his eyes that she recoiled a couple of steps._

_"I don't owe the Agency anything! Not a fucking thing! Yeah, I know I screwed up, but you look me in the eye right now, and tell me how much of an effort was made to find me! Well?"_

_"None," Taark admitted softly, and Jack snorted in disgust._

_"I thought as much."_

_"Damn it, we thought he'd killed you!"_

_"And you probably figured it wasn't any great loss. I get it, I was expendable to the Agency. Fine. But do not stand there now, and dictate who I should be loyal to."_

_Taark conceded with a reluctant nod. She paused in her next words, watching with wonder as he cradled the infant and hummed to her softly whilst pressing random tender kisses into her hair. The little girl curled in against him, her tiny hands clutching his shirt. It was an astonishing sight given Jack's playboy reputation throughout the Agency._

_"I'm sorry," she murmured as she forced her mind to get back on track. "Tell me one thing, though…"_

_Jack glared up at her balefully._

_"You were right. Okay? He turned me into his slave, and he raped me every damn day."_

_Taark started in surprise._

_"How did you know what I was thinking?"_

_Jack smiled bitterly._

_"Side effects," he answered simply. Taark felt her stomach roll. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what he meant. Instead, she settled for shifting the subject._

_"How did you escape?"_

_"Through luck, nothing more. That, and I was lucky enough to meet up with someone who wasn't like Darien. I was already nearly a month pregnant with Eleya when I escaped. The Mendyrian people could have easily just executed me for being on their planet, but they didn't. They nursed me back to health, took care of me and welcomed me into their homes. They wouldn't let me give up my daughter, even though she might have been better off in the long run with a Mendyrian family. They accepted me and gave me a home, and you've just taken us away from that. So excuse me if I don't thank you for it. Now, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate some milk for my little girl."_

_Taark nodded. She was suddenly very eager to get out of that room._

_"I'll see what I can do."_

_

* * *

_

_Dorn himself finally came to see Jack near three days later, a couple of hours before the shuttle was scheduled to dock at Time Agency Headquarters. If Jack hadn't already suspected him of having a personal agenda, he certainly did when the commander came in exuding concern. He said nothing, though, and instead waited for him to talk._

_"How are you doing there, Jack?" Dorn asked. The false sympathy in his voice had Jack wanting to punch that disingenuous smile right off his ugly face._

_"I'm locked up with my daughter. How do you think I'm doing?"_

_"I know. I'm sorry about this, but orders are orders. I thought, though, that you should at least know what's going to happen when we dock. There'll be a guard of Agency Police waiting, and you're going to be arrested for abandoning your post, as well as treason against the Agency."_

_"For what happened on Gleb?" Jack asked tonelessly._

_"I'm afraid so. There'll be a trial, of course, but it's a fairly open and shut case, and you probably are well aware of the penalty."_

_"Mind wipe," Jack whispered, unconsciously tightening his grip on Eleya._

_"Or execution," Dorn offered helpfully. Jack glowered at him._

_"I suppose you're going to offer me some sort of deal? You'll get me out of it if I give Eleya up to the Agency?"_

_A slow grin spread across Dorn's face, and the sight of it sent chills down Jack's spine. He knew then that there would be no attempts at making a deal. Dorn's next words confirmed his suspicions._

_"I'm not offering you a damned thing, you arrogant little shit. I'm telling you, that's what's going to happen and we will be taking the brat. She's half Mendyrian, and I'm tipping she's going to be powerful."_

_Jack struggled to suppress his rage, knowing full well that Eleya would easily sense it and react. As much as he hated Dorn, neither did he want to see a bloodbath ensue._

_"You aren't taking my child away from me," he whispered. Dorn laughed harshly._

_"You don't have a choice here. This time tomorrow, you'll either be dead or you'll have forgotten that you even have a daughter. With any luck, it'll be the former. Nothing like making up a good, heroic death story to help groom the offspring."_

_Jack stared up at Dorn with an expression that would have given any sane man pause._

_"You. Aren't. Taking. My. Baby."_

_Dorn smirked._

_"So you think. You have a couple of hours left with her. I suggest you make the most of them."_

_

* * *

_

_Less than an hour until docking, and Jack was starting to consider the possibility that he would have to unleash his child's power, no matter how deadly it proved to be. He wept silently at the thought, but he was unable to see another way out. Oh, he had no doubt that Dorn was being honest about the Police Guard waiting to arrest him. He also didn't doubt that most of them would take great pleasure in doing so. He'd pissed off the Agency Police too many times for them not to. In fact, he wouldn't have been surprised to find they'd had to draw straws to see who would get to go._

_There would be no out there. It seemed more and more that their only escape lay in fighting, but he knew in his heart that fighting meant death. Given the choice, he didn't know what he would have preferred – to die with his precious child, or to have her existence wiped from his memory and her to be raised as a killing machine for a soulless and heartless bureaucracy. He wanted her to live, but not at the behest of evil men who didn't value life._

_"Dada?"_

_She had just recently begun speaking understandable words in the last month, and 'Dada' was one of the first things she'd learnt to say. He cradled her to him, and whispered reassurances that he didn't believe._

_"Well, look at you."_

_Jack's head came up, and his eyes widened at the sight before him._

_"John? You're alive!"_

_John Hart smirked, unable to help himself._

_"'Course I am. A couple of weeks in stasis, and I was good as new." The smirk faded, and he laid one hand on the Perspex-like barrier between them. "I searched for you, I swear it. I went mad trying to find you. I thought I'd lost you for good this time, and then the bosses got that first transmission… How the hell did you manage to con the Mendyrians into letting you stay?"_

_"I didn't," Jack answered seriously. "They're a fair-minded people, and they're good. Darien was an exception."_

_"Pretty bloody big exception. So, this little one really is yours, then?"_

_"Yeah, she is," Jack confirmed. "She's my little girl, and I love her."_

_John peered down at the child, who was watching him shyly, and he couldn't help but smile._

_"Hello, sweetheart. I'm your Uncle John."_

_A tiny frown creased her face._

_"Unna?"_

_His grin widened._

_"That's right. I'm the one who's about to get both of your sorry butts off this floating hunk of junk."_

_With that, he hit the button that released the cell door._

_"What are you doing?" Jack asked in shock._

_"I told you, I'm getting you out of here. Now, will you get up off that gorgeous arse and move it?"_

_

* * *

_

_"How are you even here?" Jack wondered as John led them along the winding corridor._

_"I was meant to be a last resort tactic," John explained. "Except, they didn't tell me that until after Dorn and his lackeys came back from their meeting with the Elder Council. Dorn fronted me, and told me that I had to go and con you into leaving with us. The kid, too. I told him to forget it. I love you, Jack, and I didn't want to lose you, but I figured if you'd chosen to stay, then it wasn't our place to deny you. Especially after what you must have gone through with that son of a bitch. I told Dorn to drop dead. Sort of. Even when he threatened me with a charge of treason right alongside you, I wouldn't do it. That was when Taark suggested grabbing you via teleportation as we were leaving the atmosphere. So, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't stop it from happening."_

_Jack didn't say it was all right. It wasn't, and they both knew it. At the same time, though, he was grateful to his friend and lover for the effort he was making now. His gratitude waned, somewhat, though when John led them to the shuttle's escape pods._

_"You've gotta be kidding," Jack said flatly. John very clearly wasn't._

_"This is your only way out. If you wait until we land, you'll have lost your chance. This pod is already programmed with a flight path. All you have to do is get in and hit go. We're still in the middle of atmospheric re-entry. You go right now, and they won't know you're gone until it's too late."_

_"And then what?" Jack asked in distress. "It isn't as though we can just hitch a ride back to Mendyr!"_

_"I know," John conceded, "and I'm truly sorry about that, but there's nothing I can do about it. This pod is programmed to land a hundred miles outside the citadel. There'll be someone waiting there to destroy the pod, and get you both to safety."_

_"Who?" Jack wondered, unable to work out who John might have trusted with such a task._

_"You know him. He's probably the only friend I have that you don't think is on the take."_

_It didn't take Jack long to know who he was talking about._

_"Joss Alderley? You brought Joss into this?"_

_"Couldn't have kept him out." He leaned in to kiss Jack lingeringly before shoving him towards the pod. "Now, will you and the midget get into the damn pod? There isn't any time for a Plan B!"_

_In the end, there wasn't any time for Jack to reciprocate and say thankyou. John herded them both into the pod and closed the hatch on them with a wink and slam. Then, they were away, travelling an extremely bumpy flight path that took them perilously close to the shuttle's jet-wash and afterburners. They left the shuttle's flight path behind and flew in a wide arc over the sprawling citadel below. Jack watched with his heart in his throat as the ground rushed up to meet them terrifyingly fast. He felt sure they would crash, but then the pod slowed at the last moment and dropped to the ground with a surprisingly gentle thud._

_The pod door was quickly yanked open and, despite John's reassurances, Jack fully expected to come face-to-face with a slew of Time Agency guns. It took him a moment to realise it was a hand being extended towards him, and not the barrel of a weapon. He looked up at the face that met them, and recognised it._

_"Joss?"_

_Joss Alderley smiled grimly as he helped them climb out of the pod._

_"I won't say welcome home," he said._

_"I appreciate that," Jack murmured._

_"Do you mind me asking, what name are you using? I know you Time Agents change your names as frequently as you change lovers."_

_"It's Jack. Just Jack. And this is Eleya."_

_Joss smiled warmly at the little girl as Jack lifted her up into his arms._

_"Hello, sweetheart. Okay, let me set this thing to self-vaporise, and then we'll get out of here."_

_Minutes later, they were on their way, with Jack and Eleya huddling together in the back of an outdated transporter that Joss hand handled with innate skill._

_"There are a couple of bags on the floor by your feet," Joss told Jack. "Just a few basic items of clothing for you both, plus fake ID tags… The standard stuff."_

_Jack opened one bag, and Eleya squealed in delight at the sight of the teddy bear that he pulled free._

_"Oh, and a little something for your daughter," Joss added, almost as an afterthought._

_"Thankyou," Jack murmured gratefully. "She… All of her toys were left behind. We don't have anything except the clothes on our backs."_

_"Well, don't worry. We've got you covered."_

_Jack looked up at him in confusion._

_"Who, exactly? I mean, the Agency only grabbed us three days ago. How was all of this organised so fast?"_

_"It wasn't. Organised quickly, I mean. The Agency found out about that little girl a few months ago, Jack. They were planning that snatch and grab for a while, as a contingency plan if you didn't come back willingly. We couldn't stop them from getting to you, especially after they got a formal order from the Shadow Proclamation. We could, however, throw a spanner in the works by getting you both away from them. So that's what we planned on doing. It was a stroke of luck that John was taken as collateral to use against you. Saved us having to smuggle someone on board."_

_"You keep saying 'we'. Who are you talking about?"_

_Joss grinned._

_"Don't ask, don't tell. All I'll say is that you won yourself a lot of friends when you walked away from the Time Agency. They'll do just about anything now to keep you and your little girl safe."_

_"And what about you?" Jack wondered. "Where do you stand in all of this?"_

_"Jack, consider me your own personal bodyguard. The end plan is to get you off this world and, if not back to Mendyr, then at least somewhere that you'll be safe from the Time Agency."_

_Jack couldn't help feel bitter._

_"I don't think there is such a place."_

_Joss smiled in sympathy._

_"We're working on it. I promise."_

_

* * *

_

_The safe house was nothing fancy and, in a bitter irony, reminded Jack very much of Jal and Kyrii's simple home back on Mendyr. Nor did it seem that he was the only one to see a resemblance. Upon entering the abode, Eleya began to call excitedly for Grammy and Grappa. It just about broke Jack's heart to have to tell her that Grammy and Grappa were far, far away._

_This, it seemed, was to be their fate. So be it, Jack decided. He would continue to do the best he could for his daughter, and try to keep her safe and happy. So he did for the next several months, until the fateful morning that he bought a tainted cup of coffee from his usual vendor…_

_tbc... _


	22. Awake

Ianto awoke slowly, fighting a powerful urge to just go straight back to sleep. He slumped in the chair for a long while in a semi-daze before finally focusing on the bed that he sat beside. His heart skipped straight into his throat. The bed was empty; Jack was gone.

For a long moment, Ianto nearly panicked. But then he heard it – the sound of someone crying. Twisting around in his seat, he was met with a sight that at once broke his heart, and had him wanting to melt into a puddle of relief. Jack sat on the floor nearby, hugging Eleya to him and sobbing uncontrollably. Galvanised into action, Ianto abandoned the comfort of the chair and sank to the floor beside Jack.

"You're awake," Ianto whispered, slipping an arm around his shoulders. "Thank God, you're awake."

If Jack heard him, or even realised that Ianto was there, he gave no sign of it. Instead, he continued to weep copious tears that soaked into his daughter's silver-streaked hair. Feeling more than a touch of fear, Ianto reached out to cup Jack's face tenderly, and guided him to look up.

"Jack, look at me."

The anguish in Jack's eyes very nearly broke the younger man, but he made a concerted effort to hold himself together, if only for Jack's sake.

"What do you remember?"

"Everything," Jack whispered brokenly. He didn't fight it when Ianto drew both him and Eleya in close, and quickly lost himself in his tears once more.

Minutes ticked by, stretching out indeterminably. Ianto's arms started to ache, and his leg muscles were beginning to cramp. He dared not move, though. Not until Jack was ready.

Time slipped past, and it felt like hours to Ianto, even though he logically knew that it had to have been only a few short minutes. Eventually, though, he felt Jack shift in his embrace, and finally pull back.

Ianto held his tongue as he was once again treated to the heart-breaking sight of Jack's tear-stained face. The last thing Jack needed right then was to be asked a fool question like 'how are you'.

"Are you thirsty?" Ianto asked, opting for practicalities. "Or hungry?"

"Both," Jack admitted. "Mostly thirsty, though. And, I think I could do with a shower."

Ianto smiled faintly.

"You probably could, but that can wait. Do you think you can stand? We'll go to the kitchen first and get something to eat and drink."

* * *

They sat in the kitchen a short while later, with Ianto looking on as Jack devoured sandwiches, and glass after glass of a substance that looked like lime cordial but, according to Jack, was closer in composition to Gatorade and other such energy drinks. He looked like he hadn't eaten for months, Ianto mused ruefully.

"How long?" Jack asked suddenly as he carefully tore the crust off a sandwich for Eleya. "Ianto? How long was I out for?"

"Two and a half days," Ianto answered. He could see no point in lying, not the least of which because he was just no good at lying to his Captain anymore. "There were moments when I wanted to touch you so badly, Jack. It hurt to watch you go through that."

He couldn't quite suppress his aggravation, and immediately felt guilty for it as Jack's gaze dropped in an uncharacteristic display of self-consciousness.

"I'm sorry," Jack murmured. Sighing, Ianto reached across the table to grasp Jack's hand.

"Don't, Jack. Don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm just glad you came through it intact."

Jack scrubbed his hands over his face.

"I want to tell you, but I hardly know where to start."

"Well... What about Eleya? You remember her now, don't you?"

"Yes. Yes, I do." Jack favoured the little girl with a gaze that was so full of love that Ianto wanted to weep. Jack spoke softly, unwilling to let go of Ianto's hand.

"I was partnered with John. We were running a joint investigation, and we got shirty when our supervisors tried to take over right when we were getting close to getting a positive result. We decided we'd try and catch the target without backup, and it was a mistake. John was nearly killed, and I was taken captive. He... Darien, his name was... He decided to..."

"What, Jack?" Ianto asked softly, quietly dreading the answer.

"To keep me," Jack admitted, and Ianto stiffened in shock.

"Keep you? You mean, as a slave?"

Jack nodded.

"Pretty much. He called me his pet, and he took me back to his home planet, Mendyr. He smuggled me onto the planet, and told me if I was discovered, then I'd be executed. That the Mendyrians didn't suffer any outsiders to be on their world. I was scared and alone, and I had no reason not to believe him. I don't know how long it was before I finally escaped, and I didn't know it at the time but I was pregnant with this little one."

Ianto remained silent, waiting for Jack to go on. He did, after downing yet another glassful of the green liquid.

"I was found by a man called Jal. He took me in, and I was sent to Mendyr's primary Healing House."

"You were hurt badly, weren't you?" Ianto asked softly.

"Yeah," Jack whispered in confirmation. "I was. I nearly died and it was nearly two months before I was fit enough to leave. They took care of me, Ianto. They could have just killed me, but they didn't. They looked after me, and when I was well again, they offered me a home. Told me I was welcome to stay for as long as I wanted." He paused, staring at Eleya with what looked to Ianto like regret. The younger man wanted to ask what it was about, but kept silent. Instinct warned him that it was not the right time. Seemingly oblivious, Jack went on.

"I chose to stay, at least until Eleya was born. By that time, I was ready to quit the Time Agency all together... Actually, that's not strictly true. I made that decision well before Eleya was born. They cared about me on Mendyr, and I didn't want to have to give that up."

"I don't blame you," Ianto murmured, although he felt a sharp pang at the thought that he and Jack might never have met.

"The Time Agency had other ideas," Jack said bitterly. "They found out about Eleya, somehow, and they sent a delegation to Mendyr to get me... to get us."

"And how, exactly, did they manage to gain access to a closed planet?"

Both Jack and Ianto looked up to find the Doctor standing there, watching them with intense interest.

"How long have you been standing there?" Jack asked.

"Oh, not long. Just since... Well... Pretty much the whole time, really."

Jack sighed.

"Sneaky bastard."

"Oi! Language, Captain."

A tired smile flickered across Jack's face, and he finally answered the question.

"They went through the Shadow Proclamation. The Elder Council couldn't refuse, unless they wanted an army of Judoon to descend on the place. It was just a ploy. I think the Time Agency knew all along that the Mendyrians wouldn't just hand me over to them. So they waited until they were back on their shuttle and leaving the atmosphere, and a couple of agents teleported to the planet's surface, grabbed me and Eleya and teleported back onto the shuttle."

"Bastards," Ianto whispered heatedly. Jack nodded in acquiescence.

"We were locked up, and I was told I had until we reached Time Agency Headquarters to say goodbye to Eleya. Then I'd be tried for treason, and either be executed or mind-wiped."

"So that's how you came to be separated from Eleya?" Ianto queried.

"Not quite. John was on board the shuttle. He got us out of the cell and put us in an escape pod. A friend of his was waiting when we landed, and he took us to a safe house. We were in hiding for a little over six months before the Time Agency finally caught up with us. I was sold a poisoned cup of coffee, and it made me too sick to escape. I knew what had happened, and why, as soon as I got sick. The friend that got us to the safe house... Joss... He took Eleya out at my request. I made something up about being sick with the flu, and wanting Eleya to get some fresh air, because I knew the Agency was coming for us, and I didn't want her at risk. They would never have escaped with me in that state, and Joss would never have left me behind. So I lied to him. I was arrested by the Agency less than an hour after they left. Joss was smart, thankfully. He took Eleya and disappeared." A strangled laugh escaped Jack's lips. "I was interrogated for days over where Joss had taken Eleya, but I wouldn't have told them even if I'd known. Their ideas of torture were nothing in comparison to what Darien did to me. So, in the end, they mind-wiped me. Two years of my life gone... I woke up with no memory of any of it, or of Eleya. They thought I'd just go back to work, I suppose, and that I'd be there for them to use if and when they found my little girl. I don't think they counted on me running, and going rogue. So I spent the next twelve months or so running cons and looking for ways to get my memories back, while Joss and Eleya were in hiding somewhere. Then, I met the Doctor and a girl called Rose during the London Blitz, and the rest is history."

"What about the pendant?" Ianto wondered. Jack smiled wryly. Ianto never forgot about the details.

"It was something that Kyrii taught me. Kyrii is Jal's wife, and she was a... retired member of the Elder Council. She taught me how to seal my memories into an object, so that I'd never have to worry about forgetting. She meant for me to use it for anything in particular that I wanted to remember about Eleya, like her first steps or words... her first birthday. It was their equivalent of taking a photo. You embed the memory into an object, and then you can relive it at any time just by touching the object.

"When we went into hiding, I think part of me knew it wouldn't last, that we'd eventually get caught. If they had killed me, then that would have been it but if they wiped my mind, I wanted to give myself a chance to remember. I bought a pendant for Eleya, and I embedded everything I could remember of the last two years into it. In reality, it was more than two years' worth because time travels faster on Mendyr. When the Time Agency came to Mendyr to take us away, it had been nearly two years by my reckoning, but only eleven months for them. So even though technically the Agency only stole two years, in reality they stole nearly three."

"No wonder touching the pendant sent you into shock the first time," the Doctor mused. "I'm amazed you could withstand the psychic assault."

"I didn't have anything else to use," Jack said with a shrug. "We had nothing when we escaped the Agency and went into hiding, and we had to be so careful whenever we went outside. Usually Joss bought anything we needed or wanted, to reduce the risk of anyone seeing and recognising us. I bought that pendant on a whim from a passing vendor, and in hindsight that's probably how the Agency found out where we were."

"Don't, Jack," Ianto said quietly. "Don't start castigating yourself over it. You couldn't have known."

Jack nodded, though it was obvious he didn't really accept the logic of Ianto's argument.

"Once I'd decided to embed my memories," Jack went on, "I knew I couldn't afford to have my memories scattered all over the place. I had to take a chance, and it worked. Although, I have no idea how the pendant ended up here. All I can think of is that it came through the rift with Eleya, and they just ended up in separate locations."

"Don't question providence," Ianto advised him. "Let's just be grateful that we found them both."

Jack turned, and lifted Eleya into his lap. The little girl squirmed around and wrapped her arms around his neck in a fierce hug.

"Love you, Dada."

Jack buried his face in her silver-streaked hair.

"I love you too, baby. I'm never going to lose you again, I swear it."

Ianto glanced across at the Doctor, and was quietly relieved at the indulgent smile on the Time Lord's face. He had been worried that the Doctor might have tried to separate Eleya from Jack on the basis of crossed timelines, and he had been prepared to fight to keep that from happening. It was a relief to know that such a fight was not going to be necessary. The Doctor noticed the look Ianto was directing at him, and offered an apologetic smile.

"I tend to live up to my nickname... the Oncoming Storm... even when it's not warranted, but I would never separate a family if it wasn't necessary. In this instance, it most certainly isn't necessary."

"I'm glad to hear that, Doctor," Ianto said quietly. "Jack? If you're feeling all right, I might head back out into the Hub, and make sure everything's all right. I haven't had any urgent calls from Tosh, saying that Gwen and Owen have killed each other, but even so..."

Jack smiled wearily.

"Go ahead. I think I might need to lie down for a while in my room before I'm fit to face everyone again." He looked up at Ianto, and it was all the younger man could do not to flinch at the pallor of Jack's face. He leaned down on impulse and kissed Jack tenderly on the temple, and then kissed Eleya on the top of her head.

"Be good for Dada, sweetheart. I'll be back in a while. Doctor."

The Time Lord stood up to join Ianto.

"I think I might come with you. Better check up on Donna, make sure she hasn't... Well... Anyway, shall we?"

Ianto rolled his eyes, garnering a wry smile from Jack, and headed out of the kitchen with the Doctor close behind, chattering aimlessly.

"Illy," Eleya announced matter-of-factly. Jack chuckled softly as he hugged his little girl.

"Yes, he's silly, but he's one of the most brilliant men I've ever known. Tad Anno is another."

Eleya drew back a little and gazed up at him with those brilliant green eyes.

"Love Tad Anno. Love you. Mu e nomar kuno, Dada."

Fresh tears stung Jack's eyes, and he hugged her again.

"No, baby. I won't lose you again, I promise. The bad people won't get you, or me. You're never going to lose me, Lee-lee. Never. I promise you that."

Some day, he knew he would have to face losing her, but that was his burden to bear. Not hers. All that mattered right then was that she knew she would always have her dada with her, no matter what.

"Had enough?" he asked, offering her another sandwich. Eleya wrinkled her nose, and turned her face away, causing Jack to laugh softly again. "I'll take that as a definite yes. Okay, baby girl. Let's go take a nap together."

"Nai," Eleya stated firmly, with a pout that was all too obvious in its meaning. Jack kissed her lightly on the cheek as he got up, picking her up at the same time.

"You can keep your protests, Lee-lee. I need a nap, and you do, too. I can see it in your eyes."

Again, she pouted, but didn't protest further as he carried her from the kitchen back to the room the TARDIS has set up for them. He was just tucking Eleya into one side of the bed when he heard footsteps, hard and heavy, coming closer and closer. He barely had time to turn around before the door slid open and Ianto skidded in, his face ashen and his expression one of shock and dismay. Jack felt his stomach lurch unpleasantly as he quickly realised something was very, very wrong.

"Ianto...?"

"You need to come, Jack. Quickly. We have a problem."

Making a snap decision, Jack snatched Eleya's teddy bear up and pressed it into her arms. He then stroked his fingers lightly against her temples and concentrated. Her wide eyes stared up at him briefly before sliding closed.

"What did you just do?" Ianto asked breathlessly.

"Just another little trick I learned on Mendyr," Jack murmured. "Generally only ever used it when she was beyond tired, and just wouldn't go to sleep, but it can have its uses at other times, too. I don't know what the problem is, but I get the feeling she'll be better off staying inside the TARDIS."

Ianto looked grim.

"I think you're probably right. C'mon, now."

He took off at a run, with Jack right behind him.

* * *

_tbc..._


	23. What Happened in the Hub

_An hour earlier_

Alex very quickly decided that she liked Donna Noble. She liked her a lot. The woman was smart, funny, and had absolutely no problem giving someone an earful if she thought they deserved it. Alex's own signature snark had nothing on Donna Noble from Chiswick. Gwen, unsurprisingly, had been the first to suffer the other woman's acid tongue, followed closely by Owen. She'd flirted ferociously with Bobby, who hadn't seemed to know whether to be flattered or embarrassed.

She remembered Donna from the time they'd been on the TARDIS, a little over three months ago – when they'd rescued Bobby, Jack and Ianto from the Grysliaak. There'd been no time to get to know her or, indeed, no real incentive. As far as Alex had been aware at that stage, her contact with Torchwood, and all such strange associations that went with it, was coming to end. At that stage, she'd had no idea that in just three months' time she would be right back in the thick of it.

"You've got the same look on your face that I reckon I had on mine the first time I saw a real, live alien."

Alex looked up in amusement as Donna approached, a friendly smile on her face.

"The Doctor?" Alex wondered, and Donna snorted derisively in response.

"That skinny alien git? Hardly. No, I'm talking about the Racnoss. Giant spider woman. Looked like one of those idiot monster things off that Power Rangers show."

Alex chuckled softly. She'd been subjected to that show often courtesy of her nieces and nephews. The nephews thought the monsters were cool, and the nieces thought the boys were cute. Alex had personally found the entire show to be a good cure for insomnia. She almost always fell asleep in the middle of watching it with them. She only wished that her first encounter with aliens had been as amusing.

"I guess I just never pictured myself doing this," she admitted. Donna stared at her with one eyebrow raised.

"What? Making coffee? Love, believe me, it happens to the best of us."

Alex couldn't help the laughter that escaped her lips.

"Seriously," Donna said with a smile, "I know what you mean. Never even used to believe in aliens, let alone thought I'd be travelling with one. And it's been mad, you know? Totally mad, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Really, how could you ever go back to normal after getting a glimpse of what's out there?"

"It's terrifying," Alex pointed out, thinking of the monstrous creature that had nearly stolen her partner's life just three short months ago.

"And dangerous, and beautiful and exhilarating," Donna added with a wistful sigh. "And _so_ worth it."

Alex looked around the Hub, taking in all its wonders anew, with fresh appreciation.

"Yeah," she agreed softly. "It is."

The unexpected wail of an alarm cut into their conversation, shattering the otherwise peaceful atmosphere.

"What the hell is that?" Donna demanded. Tosh looked up from her computer, worry clouding her face.

"Proximity alarm. Someone, or something, has breached the Hub, and it's almost the exact same signal that we got when the Police HQ was attacked."

The revelation was met with startled silence. Then, Gwen spoke up with an authority in her voice that was a world away from her earlier petulance.

"Donna, get inside the TARDIS, now."

Unsurprisingly, Donna's temper flared at the order.

"The hell I will! I'm not bloody helpless!"

"I know you're not," Gwen countered, "but the Doctor is protecting Jack for us. We owe him the courtesy to do the same for you."

It was clear that Donna wanted to argue further, but Gwen's plain logic had stymied any further protests. With a sour look on her face, she headed for the TARDIS.

"Everyone else," Gwen said firmly, "listen up. Owen and Alex, go to the weapons room, arm yourselves and then secure the room. Tosh, lock us down. Whatever is in here with us is not going to get out again. Use that program that you've been working on, if you need to, to block teleportation. Bobby, go into Jack's office and seal the hatch, then get back out here quickly."

There were no arguments, no protesting. They scrambled to do as ordered with almost military precision, and Alex couldn't help but remark on both it and Gwen's confident command of the situation.

"She's good in a real crisis," Owen said as he pulled couple of guns out of a locker and handed them to Alex. "In fact, I'd have to say that she's at her best in a situation where there's no time to think. When Gwen starts to thing something through, that's when you're in trouble." He paused, frowning. "That came out wrong. What I mean is that sometimes she just lets the humanitarian in her rule when she really takes the time to thing about things."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"In this job? Sometimes it is, like it or not. Like now, for example. Right now, she'll be focused on whoever has gotten into the Hub, and stopping them. Later, she'll be all about wanting to understand them. Ianto calls it her bleeding heart routine. It drives us all nuts, but she is genuine. Got to give her that."

"Is this all we need?" Alex queried doubtfully of the guns Owen had handed her.

"It'll have to be. I don't think we have time to be going through everything. C'mon, Alex. We're going to have to go after the tossers, and finding them in this maze of a place is not going to be easy."

* * *

Bobby strode into Jack's office, and headed straight for the manhole in the floor. He knew it was there not because anyone had taken the time to point it out to him, but because he'd spotted it when he'd come into Jack's office on previous occasions.

It was open and, despite the urgency of the situation, he couldn't resist having a quick look inside. He wasn't sure exactly what he'd expected to see, but inside was a bed that barely fit into the narrow space. Just looking at it gave Bobby the shudders. It reminded him too much of the dark closet that his mother had locked him in semi-regularly when he was a child.

He wondered briefly why Gwen had wanted him to seal the tiny subterranean bedroom, only to have his question partially answered when he spied the hatchway in the wall at the foot of Jack's bed. It wasn't this first innocuous room that needed protecting, he guessed. It was potentially whatever lay behind that door.

He started to close the hatch, only to hesitate. Following an instinct that he had no explanation for, he grabbed the coral off Jack's desk and set it carefully down on the bed.

Bobby had only just managed to seal the hatch and get back up to his feet when the door exploded inwards and he found himself confronted by a woman in a uniform unlike anything he'd ever seen. She was clearly not completely human either, judging by her very vibrant purple eyes and razor sharp teeth. She held a gun on him, and spoke in a slow voice that was heavy with a stilted accent.

"You are under arrest, by order of Time Agency Charter Two-Seventeen, for suspicion of harbouring a wanted fugitive. Do not resist."

Bobby tamped down on an urge to raise his hands, and instead just shook his head.

"I'm not resisting."

She backed out of the room, indicating for him to follow. He did so, and his breath caught. Donna, Toshiko and Gwen were all on their knees in the main area of the Hub, with numerous guns aimed at them. Gwen sported a rapidly blossoming bruise on her temple, and Bobby guessed that she had probably tried to defend her colleagues and had come off second-best.

So far, there was no sign of Owen and Alex, and he found himself fervently hoping that they'd realised what was happening, and were staying hidden.

"On your knees," his captor demanded, and Bobby complied without argument. He was no match for so much weaponry, and he certainly did not have a death wish... despite what some people back home believed.

As he went down, he spotted something that made his stomach knot up. Each one of their assailants wore a vortex manipulator on their wrists.

"You're the ones who attacked the police," he blurted out, only just stopping himself from saying 'Time Agents'. Admitting to that knowledge might just get them all killed.

"We dealt with your law enforcement agency as necessary," one of the agents said matter-of-factly. "Now we are dealing with you. Where are the others?"

"Not here," Gwen answered. "We locked down the Hub as soon as we detected the breach. They won't be able to get back in for at least six hours."

"Agent Helliiax?" the woman asked sharply.

"I detect two other sentient life-forces," came the reply.

"That'll be Myfanwy and Janet," Gwen said with a poker face that impressed even Bobby. "Janet is a weevil, and Myfanwy is our..."

"Guard dog," Tosh offered.

"The life readings appear to be non-human," the agent admitted. The woman, who was clearly in charge, spoke tersely.

"All right. Helliiax, take your people and get moving. You know what you're looking for. Go!"

Half of their assailants broke away and headed in different directions, guided by sleek hand-held devices that looked like the latest mobile phone offering.

"Who are you?" Donna demanded. "Because this is really starting to get on my nerves. You can't treat us like this, do you hear me?"

"My name is Jaydn Taark. I am searching for a fugitive. That is all you need to know. As for your treatment, I suggest strongly that you remain silent, and our treatment of you won't get any worse."

Gwen, Tosh and Bobby all exchanged looks. That begged the question of who were they looking for? Eleya, or Jack?

"How do you know this fugitive you're looking for is here?" Bobby asked, careful to keep his question gender neutral.

"A device was stolen from one of our agents," Taark told him. "We have traced its signal here." She approached Bobby with a critical look. "This city exists on a rift in space and time."

Bobby nodded slowly. She hadn't been asking a question, and he saw no point in lying when they clearly already knew. Taark looked around at Tosh and Gwen, momentarily ignoring a livid Donna.

"And you find things that come through the rift into your world."

Again, it was not a question.

"That's our job," Gwen conceded. "We secure things that come through the rift, and keep ordinary people from getting hold of them."

"Listen to me closely, then," Taark told them in a deceptively soothing tone. "Answer me truthfully and none of you need suffer. We are seeking a very dangerous individual. She may appear to be just a child, but that appearance is deceiving. She is not human and she has already killed at least once that we know of. If you know the whereabouts of this child, it is in your interests to tell us."

"The real question is," Bobby ventured, "will you believe us if we say we don't know what you're talking about?"

Taark smiled thinly.

"_That_ will depend on whether you're lying to me."

Bobby didn't respond to that. He knew he couldn't say anything more without lying, and instinct warned him that this woman would not be easily fooled.

Looking as though she'd expected as much, Taark turned away and began moving from desk to desk.

"You have technology here that is far advanced for this time. It will have to be destroyed."

"Over my dead body!" Tosh burst out. Taark smiled coldly.

"If necessary, though I hope you would be smarter than that."

"What are you planning to do with us?" Gwen demanded to know. Taark came to Gwen's desk and began poking randomly at the many personal items that cluttered her workspace.

"Best case scenario for you? We wipe your memories so you'll never remember we were here. If we cannot find what we're looking for, you may be taken back to Agency Headquarters for interrogation." She looked around at each of them with a harsh glare. "If you know anything at all about the child we seek, then I suggest you tell me now. Our techniques for extracting information tend to be extremely painful. Most do not survive the process."

Bobby, Gwen, Tosh and Donna all stayed silent, none wanting to say or do anything to put their other colleagues at risk.

Meanwhile, Bobby watched Taark and her soldiers in wary amusement. Jack had explained to him and Alex the concept of perception filters, but it still amazed him that here they were, within twenty feet of a big blue police box, and not one of the Time Agents had noticed it. That was another reason he dared not say anymore. The last thing they needed to do was to bring the TARDIS to the attention of the Time Agents.

A moment later, he saw something that nearly stopped his heart, something that was potentially as deadly as the Time Agents actually noticing the TARDIS and recognising it for what it was. In plain view on Gwen's desk was a photo of the Cardiff team, with Jack right in the middle. In the split second it took his brain to process it, and the possible implications, it was already too late. Taark had seen it.

"Agent Grandler," she said tensely. An older man joined her, and uttered a shocked exclamation when he saw the picture.

"It's him! Son of a bitch, it's that jumped-up little bastard! He's here!"

Taark spun around to glare at them.

"Where is he? Tell us where this man is, and I'll forget I saw any of you. Tell me now!"

"We don't know," Gwen said, putting as much venom into her voice as she could. "The bastard disappeared on us nearly twelve months ago, and we haven't seen him since. He just left us high and dry. As far as we're concerned, he can stay gone. We don't care if he never comes back."

Taark reached Gwen in just two long strides, and grabbed Gwen's chin in a violent grip.

"Now you _are_ lying. You would not keep this picture if you truly felt that way about him, or if you really had not seen him or heard anything of him for so long. I'll give you one last chance. Tell me where he is, and spare yourself the grief that I guarantee will follow."

Gwen's expression hardened in an all-too-familiar look of belligerence, and she twisted out of Taark's grip.

"Go to hell."

Taark's lip curled upwards in a hateful sneer.

"So be it." She turned to face the scouting team that were just coming back. "Helliiax, prepare these prisoners for transport. Grandler, set the charges. We're going to fry every piece of tech in this place."

"What about _him_?" Grandler asked. Taark smashed the frame on the edge of the desk and stuffed the photo inside her jacket.

"It can't be a coincidence that he's here. Dorn always suspected that the mind wipe never worked. I'll bet he's got the child with him, or that he at least knows where she is. Hurry up with the charges. We'll get these fools back to Headquarters. Even if they can't tell us what we want to know, they'll still be useful as bait."

Grandler snorted derisively.

"You're assuming he actually gives a damn about anyone other than himself."

Taark turned slowly to stare at him.

"He endured seventeen straight days of specialised interrogation, and never broke. Do not doubt his devotion to that little girl, or to anyone that he might have attached himself to emotionally. Now do what I tell you to do. Luring him to us will be more effective than attempting to recapture him in his territory."

"Now just a bloody moment!" Donna burst out, finally losing the fight to hold her acid tongue. "Who the hell do you people think you are? We've got rights, and if you think you're taking us anywhere, you've got another ruddy thing coming!"

Taark regarded her with infuriating amusement.

"Who is going to stop us? You? You pathetic, twenty-first century human, you're little better than apes." She looked around her with disgust. "What he sees in this time, I will never understand. Utterly primitive."

"We might be apes," a new voice said coldly, "but we're apes who know how to use guns."

The Time Agents turned collectively to see Owen and Alex emerging into the main area of the Hub, each one heavily armed and prepared to fight.

"How did you avoid our scans?" Taark demanded.

"Standard bio-disruptor," Owen answered. "Now put your guns down and back off."

He wasn't entirely surprised that his demand was ignored.

"We don't negotiate and we don't surrender," Taark said. "You have one opportunity. Surrender, or we will kill you."

Her tone was blunt and it was obvious to all that she meant every word. While Owen looked torn, Alex took it on herself to make the decision for both of them. She put her weapons down and stepped back in surrender.

"Damn it, Alex..." Owen growled, but her ferocious glare silenced him.

"What point would there be in dying? Put your damn guns down, Owen."

He did so, if only because he knew she was right.

"At least you have sense," Taark said dryly as Alex and Owen were secured alongside their colleagues. "And as a reward, you shall remain behind to give a message to my wayward agent, when he eventually shows his cowardly face."

"What message?" Alex asked, but Taark didn't reply. She instead turned away to observe as each of their other captives were sedated, and then spoke in a low voice to one of the soldiers, who grinned unpleasantly in response.

Alex grimaced, and shut her eyes at the flare of light as the Time Agents vanished with their prisoners. When she opened them again, it was to find the last remaining agent approaching her with a knife. She knew then that the so-called message to Jack was not a verbal one, and that pleas would do no good.

Driven by adrenalin and self-preservation, Alex stumbled awkwardly to her feet and began to back away. She had no idea where she could go or what she could do to defend herself, with her hands cuffed behind her back, but she was hardly going to capitulate and let this son of a bitch kill her. All else aside, she needed to survive so she could tell Jack exactly what had happened.

Her heels struck solid metal and she nearly went over on her arse. It was the stairs that led up to the boardroom, the greenhouse and the upper gantry. A vague idea was beginning to form in her mind, and she began to edge her way backwards up the stairs so as not to lose sight of her pursuer.

He said nothing as he followed her up the stairs, and that frightened her considerably. In her experience, a cocky would-be killer with loose lips could be bluffed and distracted. This man, though, was not going to be distracted by anything.

As she neared the top of the stairs, he suddenly lunged and swiped at her with his knife. Alex staggered as she tried to jerk away from him, and cried out at the pain that burned across her stomach. She sat down heavily on the top step, and struggled to keep her head as the agent loomed over the top of her. The knife slashed at her again, and she felt a searing pain in her side.

_Not a fatal wound_, she told herself breathlessly. He either wasn't planning to kill her, or he was a sadist who intended to kill her slowly. She had no intention of waiting to see which possibility became reality.

Gathering her strength, Alex lifted her legs, planted her feet against her assailant's chest and pushed as hard as she could. The stairs were steep and her resistance more or less unexpected, judging by the startled look on the Agent's face. He stumbled back and would have fallen, but for grabbing the railing at the last instant.

Alex felt her hopes sink but the smug sneer on her attacker's face was short-lived. A dark shadow swept down and over the top of Alex's prone figure, followed by a rush of wind. The shadow slammed into the Agent and lifted him momentarily into the air before letting go and sending him plummeting back down.

There was a distinct, sickening snap as the man landed, and Alex knew without looking that her would-be killer was dead. Instead, she looked upwards in a daze to see Myfanwy spiralling back up towards her nest. Thanking God that Ianto had taken the time to introduce her and Bobby properly to the pterodactyl at the start of their time in Cardiff, Alex made a mental note to thoroughly spoil her with all the chocolate she could eat if they came through this intact.

In the meantime, she knew she needed to get to the TARDIS, and hammer on the door until someone heard her. Injuries aside, they needed to know what had happened before Taark came back to find out why her agent was taking so long.

She made it halfway down the stairs before her strength gave out. Before she even had a chance to cry out, Alex slipped and went into freefall, tumbling down the rest of the stairs. She came to an abrupt and jarring halt at the bottom, her head striking the concrete with a dull smack and consigning her to darkness.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	24. Reunions

Jack stood in the doorway of the TARDIS, looking out at the Hub with growing fear. Though not utterly ransacked, there was enough evidence of a disturbance for him to know his team hadn't just taken off for a mission, or to get a drink. His gaze came to rest on the Doctor, who was making his way back to the TARDIS with Alex's limp and bloodied form in his arms.

"Alex, no..." Jack whispered in horror.

"She'll be fine, Jack," the Doctor reassured him as he slipped past the former time agent. "But I need to get her to the med room so that the TARDIS can help her. Then, hopefully she'll be able to tell us what happened."

Jack watched the Doctor carry her into the TARDIS before looking back out at the Hub. Ianto was at Tosh's desk, his fingers flying over the keyboard.

"What've you got?" Jack asked as he joined the younger man. "CCTV footage?"

"Someone tried to disable the Hub," Ianto answered. "Looks like they didn't anticipate the safeguards that Tosh put in place, including the CCTV. Just a sec, almost got it..."

He trailed off as the monitor came to life, treating them to a bird's eye view.

"Taark," Jack hissed with ill-concealed loathing. Ianto sucked in a long breath as he recognised the name from Jack's recently recovered memories.

"She's one of the agents that helped to snatch you and Eleya from..."

"Right," Jack cut him off, clearly struggling to control his anger. "She was my superior officer, and she hated me. After the Agency recaptured me, she took charge of interrogating me herself."

Ianto looked at him quizzically.

"She tortured you, didn't she?"

"Let's just say that one of the reasons I ran was because not only did I wake up with two galactic standard years missing from my memory, I could barely move because I'd been so badly beaten."

"Bitch," Ianto growled. They watched in silence, and finally Jack growled in anger as the agents vanished with their colleagues.

"They've taken them back to Agency headquarters. They must have tracked Eleya here. We need to talk to Alex."

"What about _him_?" Ianto wondered, glancing at the dead Time Agent. "Won't they come back for him?"

"No. Agency code. We don't risk crossing our own timelines to go back for anyone who gets left behind. They won't be coming back. Not this soon."

Trusting that Jack was right, Ianto followed him back into the TARDIS.

* * *

"How bad is it?" Jack asked as he and Ianto strode into the med room. The Doctor offered them both a reassuring smile.

"She'll be fine. The knife wounds were nasty, but they somehow missed hitting anything vital. She's only unconscious now because she hit her head. She should be waking up any time now."

Long seconds ticked by before the Doctor's prediction came true and Alex's eyes opened.

"Hey, gorgeous," Jack said softly, favouring her with a warm smile that did little to mask his concern. Alex stared up at him, looking as though she didn't know where she was, or who Jack was. Realisation dawned at the same moment that the pain from her injuries hit, and a loud groan escaped her.

"Ow, goddamn it!"

"Easy," the Doctor murmured. "Stay still, Alex. I don't think you'll reopen those wounds, but why take the risk."

Alex shuddered, and then looked up at Jack and Ianto in distress.

"We were ambushed, right inside the Hub. Owen and I weren't caught right away... God, Jack, I'm sorry..."

"Hey," Jack said, "how about you tell us what happened? Then we'll decide whether you have anything to apologise for."

Alex blinked hard against the threat of tears.

"Owen and I avoided being caught, and we used a bio-disruptor to keep them from tracking us. We didn't know how to deal with the situation. Owen wanted to go in, guns blazing, but we both knew that would have been a mistake. Those people were too heavily armed. We decided in the end that any sort of attack would have just resulted in bloodshed. We tried to bluff them, but it didn't work. I... I made Owen surrender, Jack."

Jack leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"You did the right thing. Ianto and I saw the CCTV footage. I knew most of those agents, including Jaydn Taark. They would have killed all of you."

"I nearly did get killed," Alex said bitterly. "Fat lot of good that would have been to you."

"But you didn't get killed. Remember that. Now, do you think you can tell us anything else you remember? It's important, Alex."

She nodded slightly, grimacing at the resulting pain in her skull.

"I seem to remember ending up with a concussion the last time too, Harkness," she grumbled. Jack chuckled softly, but waited patiently for her to continue.

"They were after Eleya," Alex explained. "They tracked the signal of a vortex manipulator, though. Not Eleya herself. Detective Swanson had it on her. She said the police found it at Pendefig Mall after we left with Eleya. The Time Agents tracked it, and attacked the police headquarters. They almost levelled the place, Jack. We brought it back with us..."

Jack uttered a low groan.

"That's how they got in. It must have been transmitting a low level frequency. They just followed the signal straight into the Hub." He looked down at her quickly. "None of you screwed up, Alex. You followed protocol, and brought future tech back to the Hub to secure it. It wasn't anyone's fault."

"I'm not done yet," Alex said grimly. "It gets better. Jack, they know you're here."

Jack shut his eyes. Truthfully, he wasn't all that shocked by that revelation. He'd always known in his heart that he couldn't run from the Agency forever. The difference now, though, was that he had something to fight for. He had his team, but most of all he had Ianto and Eleya. What he did not have was any intention of giving them up.

"Jack, I'm not so sure that I like that look in your eyes," the Doctor said in a low, warning tone. Momentarily ignoring the Time Lord, Jack directed his attention to Ianto and Alex – but primarily to Ianto.

"I want you both safe."

"We didn't sign up to be safe," Alex retorted. Ianto nodded.

"You're not doing anything on your own, Jack. Don't even think about it. The only person we need to consider the safety of is Eleya."

"Jack, whatever you're thinking," the Doctor said tensely, "I can't let you do it."

"You don't even know what I'm planning," Jack retorted. "And anyway, I'm not asking for your permission. I hope you'll help, but I'll do this without you if I have to."

Frustration and anxiety practically radiated off the Doctor.

"Do _what_? What are you going to do, Jack?"

"I'm going to save my team, and I'm going to shut down the Time Agency for good."

The Doctor stared at him for long seconds before opening his mouth to respond, but Jack got in first.

"Do not stand there and tell me I can't, Doctor. I don't want to hear it. I'm going to do this and you can either help me, or stand aside."

"Oh, calm down, Captain," the Doctor retorted. "I have no intention of trying to stop you. As it happens, I actually agree with you. Ianto is right though. We need to think of Eleya. As confident as I am that she's safe here in the TARDIS, I'd feel better if we weren't taking her right into the middle of enemy territory."

Jack considered that for all of a moment before deciding the Doctor was right. He wanted his daughter completely safe, beyond the reach of the Agency. There was only one place he knew of that could protect her so completely.

"Doctor, take us to Mendyr."

The Doctor blinked in astonishment.

"Jack, I can't access Mendyr," he reminded him carefully.

"No," Jack conceded, "but I can. Just get us into the planet's orbit, and I'll take care of the rest. Aim for the year 5093. I don't think you need to be any more specific than that, at least for now."

The Time Lord snorted as he headed out of the room.

"You say that like you don't trust me to hit the right year. That's insulting, that is."

Jack smirked as the Doctor vanished into the corridor beyond.

"That's rich, coming from the guy who took Rose on a quick trip, and brought her back a year later."

"Jack," Alex cut in quietly, "where are we going?"

"To Mendyr," Jack answered. "My adopted planet, and the world where my baby girl was born."

Alex stared at him inscrutably before realisation dawned.

"It worked, didn't it? You've got your memories back!"

"Yes, I do," Jack confirmed. "And now we're going to put what I remember to use." He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "Try and get a little more rest. It'll be at least a couple of hours before we reach Mendyr. It's in a fairly remote region."

"Just don't even think of leaving me out of this, Jack," Alex warned him as she reluctantly settled back down. "Concussion or not, you're not leaving me behind."

"I wish I could, beautiful," Jack admitted, "but I know that look. Besides... I'm going to need all the help I can get. Now, rest. I'll come and get you when it's time."

* * *

The Doctor found them back in their room, sitting quietly with Eleya while she slept.

"We'll reach the outer boundaries of Mendyr's atmosphere in about an hour and a half," he informed them. Jack nodded in wordless acknowledgement, but Ianto wasn't quite so blindly accepting.

"And what then? How can we be sure that they won't just try to blast us out of the sky before we can even establish communications?"

"Firstly, that's not their style," the Doctor assured him. "They're very private, but also very reasonable. Secondly, they don't blow ships up. They just sort of... displace them."

Jack smiled wryly.

"Displace? So, that time you tried to land on Mendyr...?"

Embarrassment coloured the Doctor's face.

"I ended up landing on a little planet called Bob on the other side of the galaxy. Still don't know how they pulled it off, either. Damned irritating."

Jack chuckled, but it was humourless in its quality.

"That won't happen this time. I guarantee it."

"You plan to leave Eleya on Mendyr, don't you?" Ianto asked suddenly in a tone that was bordering on a challenge. Jack reached out and lovingly smoothed back Eleya's long hair.

"Only for as long as it takes to put an end to this." He glanced at Ianto and smiled wryly. "The selfless and logical thing to do would be to leave her there permanently and let someone else raise her, but I'm not feeling too selfless right now. I can't give her up, Ianto. Not now. Just the thought of not having her with me is enough to make my stomach turn. I want her to be safe, but I want her with me." He reached out and grasped Ianto's hand. "I want her with us."

"And you're certain that the Mendyrians won't try to take her from you?" the Doctor asked, and Jack smiled knowingly.

"I'm sure."

* * *

An hour and a half later, Jack and Ianto watched from the side as the Doctor stabilised the TARDIS in orbit around Mendyr, and made contact with the Elder Council. Alex waited just behind them, with Eleya comfortably ensconced in her arms.

"Greetings, Time Lord," a familiar voice spoke, and Jack's heart ached as Anna became visible on the monitor. "I trust you are aware that you have entered protected space?"

"I am aware, My Lady," the Doctor answered formally. "I sincerely apologise for any concern I may be causing you, but I formally request planetary access, and an audience with the Elder Council."

"Much more polite than the last time you attempted to gain access to Mendyr," Anna said approvingly. "Even so, you understand better than most why Mendyr is a closed world. For what purpose do you wish to access our world?"

The Doctor looked at Jack and nodded. The Captain took Eleya from Alex, and stepped into the monitor's line of sight.

"Because he's bringing us home."

Anna's eyes widened.

"By the blessed stars... Doctor, you have immediate and open access. We will be waiting to greet you."

The monitor went dark, and the Doctor uttered a wry laugh.

"Easiest negotiations I've ever been party to. All right, people. Here we go. Next stop, Mendyr's capital, and the Elder Council."

* * *

The TARDIS materialised and her passengers wasted no time. Led by Jack, they exited to find the entire Elder Council waiting for them. Anna came forward, tears in her eyes as she gaze at Jack and Eleya.

"We'd given up on ever seeing either of you again. Jack, I am so sorry. We failed both you and Eleya."

"No, Anna," Jack told her. "It wasn't your fault. If anyone is to blame, it's me. I should have known the Time Agency wouldn't give up so easily."

Anna reached out to embrace them both together.

"Welcome home, Jack. Welcome home, Eleya."

"Thankyou," Jack whispered, wishing silently that it could last.

"Come," Anna said once she'd drawn back. "There is much to be discussed. The Council chamber is a far more appropriate and comfortable place for that."

"And my friends...?"

Anna nodded.

"They too are welcome. Please, come."

* * *

Minutes later, they were comfortably seated in a large chamber with refreshments.

"I can't believe I'm on another planet," Alex murmured in awe. Anna smiled indulgently at her.

"Mendyr is not so different from Earth."

"Alex comes from Earth of the past," Jack explained. "It's a lot more to take in than you might think."

"I understand," Anna assured them. Her gaze went to Ianto, who shifted uncomfortably under her calm scrutiny. "And this handsome young man is your partner?"

Ianto blushed an adorable shade of red, and Jack chuckled fondly.

"He is. I'm sorry, I haven't made proper introductions. It's a little overwhelming being back here. I never thought I'd see Mendyr again. This is Ianto Jones, my... well, my everything, really."

"Jack," Ianto scoffed lightly, but his eyes shone at his lover's words.

"Alex Eames," Jack went on, nodding to the former detective. "She's part of the team I lead back home on Earth. And this is the Doctor, the last of the Time Lords."

A knowing smile touched Anna's lips.

"That remains to be seen. Still, you are all welcome here. All friends and companions of our dearest lost children are welcome."

"If you don't mind me asking," Ianto said tentatively, "how long has it been for you since Jack and Eleya were taken from Mendyr by the Time Agency?"

"For us, it has been nearly four years," Leesa said. "We never gave up hope of their return, but our resources beyond Mendyr are severely restricted, and we do not trust the Shadow Proclamation."

"Can't think why," the Doctor commented dryly. Anna smiled grimly.

"You clearly understand our scepticism, Doctor. I fear that the Shadow Proclamation, in its desire to uphold universal law and justice, has become an easy target for corrupt groups such as the Time Agency. They used the Shadow Proclamation to gain access to Mendyr, yet they had no intention of following the protocols set by the Proclamation. They abducted Jack and Eleya from our very soil, and when we voiced our protests to the Proclamation, we were told our concerns would be dealt with in due course. As of this moment, we are still waiting."

"Bureaucracy," Alex retorted cuttingly. "It's the same no matter where or when you are, apparently."

"Anna," Jack said quietly, "I need your help. The Time Agency is still after Eleya. They've taken some of my friends captive, and I need to get them back, but I don't want to put Eleya at risk."

"She will be safe with us," Anna promised. "When you return, the choice will be yours again... Although, I suspect you have already chosen, haven't you?"

Jack smiled sadly.

"I think so."

Rising, Anna crossed the floor and kissed him chastely on the lips.

"We will protect your daughter until you return, dear one, but you and your companions will not go unaided. We will assemble a group of our best and most talented to go with you."

Jack stared at her in astonishment, stunned by the offer.

"Anna, I appreciate it. I really do, but this is going to be dangerous."

"Do you think we don't understand that? The Time Agency stole from us two of our own. We've waited patiently for the opportunity to repay that debt. You will accept our help."

A sigh escaped Jack's lips. He knew better than to continue arguing with any of the Elders, let alone Anna.

"All right," he conceded. "Thankyou."

Anna nodded in satisfaction, but anything else she might have been about to say was interrupted by Krandl.

"Anna, they're here."

Anna's face lit up with a radiant smile, and she glanced pointedly at the chamber doors.

"Enter."

The doors swung open of their own accord, and two people whom Jack had once believed were lost to him for good walked in.

"Grammy!" Eleya squealed in utter delight. "Grappa!"

She slipped off Jack's lap and bolted across the floor, charging into the waiting arms of the elderly couple.

"Oh gods, my baby girl," Kyrii sobbed, wrapping the child up in a ferocious hug. "It really is you!"

Jal looked up from Eleya, and uttered a startled cry.

"Jack!"

Abandoning all semblance of dignity, Jack broke into a run and threw himself into Jal's embrace.

"My boy," Jal whispered through his tears. "Oh, my precious boy..."

* * *

"Now that is a sight worth seeing," the Doctor said wistfully. Anna nodded.

"Jal and Kyrii were inconsolable when Jack and Eleya were taken. Hopefully this reunion will go some distance towards healing those hurts."

"You want Jack to stay here, don't you?" Ianto asked suddenly. He was not quite able to keep the tension out of his voice as he asked. Anna regarded him with a reassuring smile that went some way to soothing his nerves.

"Yes, but as always, that decision is his to make. Whether he stays or goes, he and those loves will always be welcome here."

The unspoken gesture was plain enough, and Ianto felt his throat constrict with emotion.

"Thankyou."

* * *

Oblivious to the exchange taking place behind them, Jack and moved from Jal's embrace to Kyrii's.

"Sweet boy," Kyrii murmured as Jack wept softly into her shoulder. "You found your way home to us, our sweet boy."

"So long," Jack choked out. "It's been so long, Kyrii. Things have happened... You couldn't imagine how much has happened."

Glancing at Jal in concern, Kyrii brushed her lips lightly against Jack's temple and at the same time opened her mind to his.

"By the gods..." Kyrii gasped in shock as her mind was bombarded by memories. "It's not possible! How could you have lived through so much?"

Jack gazed at her wearily.

"I'm nearly two hundred years old, Kyrii. It may only have been four standard years since you last saw me, but it's been a hundred and forty years since _I_ last saw _you_."

Kyrii hesitated for just a moment before reaching up and pressing her palms lightly against his temples. He opened his mind up to her, and let her see everything. It lasted barely a minuted, although it had felt like much longer to both. When Kyrii withdrew, there was tangible grief in her eyes and she pulled Jack back into her arms. Relief swept through Jack. His fear had been that the people who had once accepted and loved him unconditionally would reject him once they realised how big a freak he'd become.

"Stop that!"

Jack blinked in astonishment at Kyrii's sharp reproach. She glared at him fiercely and spoke in a tone that brooked no argument.

"You are not a freak, so get that ridiculous idea out of that thick head of yours."

"I keep trying to convince him of that, but he never quite seems to believe me. Maybe a combined effort will prove more successful."

Jal and Kyrii looked on with wary interest as a handsome young man approached. Before Jack had a chance to make any formal introductions, Eleya beat him to it. Slipping away from Jal, she ran to Ianto and held her arms up to him. He obliged willingly, and picked her up.

"Grammy," Eleya said, pointing at each of them in turn. "Grappa. Dada. Tad!"

Jal began to grin as he rapidly put two and two together.

"And 'Tad' means...?"

"It's Welsh for 'Dad'," Jack confirmed. "Welsh is Ianto's native language back home, on Earth. Jal and Kyrii, this is my partner, Ianto Jones. Ianto, I want you to meet the people who saved me from Darien."

Jal scoffed softly.

"Son, you saved yourself. But I am pleased to meet you, Ianto. We both are."

"Dada and Tad mwah!" Eleya sung with delight, and Kyrii laughed.

"Well, I guess there's no misunderstanding there."

"No," Jack answered. "She's pretty much on the money with that."

"We're pleased for you," Jal told him sincerely. "For both of you."

Kyrii stepped forward to embrace Ianto, even while he was still holding Eleya.

"Welcome to our family, Ianto."

Ianto returned the hug, all the while regarding Jack with a stunned look that Jack returned with a broad grin.

"Thank you," Ianto murmured, finally relaxing into the hug. Kyrii gave him a brief, tight squeeze.

"Anyone who can make our boy as happy as you've obviously made him is welcome in our eyes."

* * *

With acquaintances renewed and loved ones reunited, Jal and Kyrii joined the group and listened darkly as the situation was explained to them.

"Well, then," Jal said firmly, "it seems that we just need to decide who will be going."

Jack raised an eyebrow in the direction of his adoptive parent. He remembered that tone all too well now.

"Jal, please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want you to go. I need you and Kyrii to stay here and take care of Eleya for me. Aside from Ianto, I think you two are the only ones who can probably look after her."

"And Ianto, I suppose you have no intention of remaining here in safety?" Kyrii asked. Ianto shook his head.

"I'm with Jack. That, and they're my colleagues that are in danger. I can't stay here, all safe and sound, when they're in danger of dying."

"And what about you, Jack?"Krandl asked soberly. "Would you so willingly risk your life so soon again after being reunited with your child?"

Jack smiled tiredly, and just a little bit sadly.

"You don't understand. They can take Eleya away from me, which is why I want her here safe, but they can never take _me_ away from _her_. Not again."

Anna's eyes narrowed as she gazed at Jack, finally seeing what Kyrii had so quickly noticed.

"You've changed. Your eyes... Jack, how old are you now?"

Jack shrugged a little in answer. He had no intention of lying to her, but the truth was he didn't know exactly. He hadn't for some time.

"I don't really know. My closest guess would be around a hundred and seventy... give or take."

A shocked murmur swept through the Council, and Anna rose up to approach him once more. There was no suspicion on her face, though – only concern.

"You have no fear for your own life," she said as she gazed at him intently. "Only for those around you. You have no fear of death."

"That's not totally true," Jack protested. "I hate dying. It's just that it's not a permanent state for me anymore."

"What are you saying?" Leesa asked incredulously. "That you can't die? That's impossible!"

Jack shot the Doctor a look, to which the Time Lord responded with a shrug.

"Impossible thing," he said simply. Jack sighed.

"I _can_ die," he insisted, all the while acutely aware of the pained look on Ianto's face, and the renewed shock on Jal and Kyrii's faces. "I just don't stay dead."

"It's not his fault," the Doctor said abruptly, with a defensiveness and ferocity in his tone that startled Jack greatly. "A companion of mine used the power of the vortex to bring him back to life after he was killed by a Dalek. She couldn't control it, and she brought him back forever. Every time he's killed, now, the power of the vortex brings him back to life."

Jack looked sourly at the Doctor.

"You never explained it to me like that. You just told me I was wrong."

"I know," the Doctor admitted, "and I'm sorry. _I _was wrong." He looked at Anna and fixed her with a hard stare. "Jack never asked for this, and I will not allow him to be ill-treated because of it."

Anna looked affronted, and made no attempt to hide it.

"Jack is one of our own, Time Lord. We do not easily reject our own. He will always have a home here, for as long as he lives."

"Even though I'm immortal?" Jack asked, barely concealing his hope at her words. Anna regarded him seriously before breaking into a smile that was at once both sad and reassuring.

"You are not immortal, Jack. You have a long time ahead of you, and it will be incredibly hard, but you are not immortal. There will be a day far into your future when death will claim you for good." She leaned down to kiss him lightly on the forehead. "There will be an end to your story, dear one. I promise you."

Jack hugged her fiercely, overwhelmed by the gift of hope that she'd just given him.

"Thank you, Anna."

"You're welcome. Now, returning to the matter at hand, I think that we have a consensus here that we will be sending assistance with you. The only question to be answered now is who will go and who must stay." She turned her attention to both Ianto and Alex. "The choice is yours, of course, but I would encourage you both to remain here where you will be safe from harm."

"Please, think about it," Jack begged them. "It's bad enough that Tosh, Owen, Gwen, Bobby and Donna are all in danger because of me. The Agency is ruthless. You could both be killed."

"Jack, I'm coming with you," Ianto insisted. "End of story."

"Same," Alex stated. "I am not staying behind, so don't even think it."

"Alex, you're still concussed," Jack argued. "Not to mention, you haven't recovered from those knife wounds yet."

"I've had worse," Alex answered, prompting Jack to groan in frustration.

"You will be seen to by our healers before you leave," Anna assured her. She caught Jack's disapproving look, and returned it with one of her own. "It is her choice, and we will not allow her injuries to go untreated."

"Oi!" the Doctor spoke up indignantly. "The TARDIS did an all-right job, thank you very much."

"I'm not disputing that, Time Lord, but more care is needed if she is going with you."

"Thanks," Alex murmured in as gracious a tone as she could manage. All of a sudden, she had a nearly overwhelming urge to smirk at Jack, and had to fight the urge back down. Anna indicated the door.

"It will be a couple of hours, at least, before we'll be ready. The gardens lie through there. Jack can show you the way, and we will take Alex to be seen to by Brenna. Relax and enjoy this moment of peace, please."

"Wouldn't it be better if we got moving now?" Alex asked, suddenly worried again by what she felt was an unnecessary delay.

"I have a time machine," the Doctor said with a reassuring, if slightly smug grin. "We could stay a month, and still not be late."

"Except, your driving sucks," Jack said bluntly.

"Cheeky bugger," the Doctor retorted. "We might not always land when and where we expect to, but we always land when and where we need to."

"True," Jack conceded. He tapped his manipulator lightly. "I took readings before we left the Hub, and I've got the coordinates for exactly when and where we need to go. We'll get them back, Alex. Trust me."

"I do," Alex said. "I believe in you, Jack." A moment later, she grimaced as though she'd just experienced a particularly sour taste. "I sound like an extra in a Peter Pan stage production."

Jack and Ianto both laughed, and she glowered at them.

"If I hear a word out of either of you..."

Ianto shook his head, while at the same time clamping a hand over Jack's mouth to silence him.

"Not a word."

One of the Elders approached and gently took Alex's arm.

"Come with me. I'll take you to our Healing House. Jack, if you would escort your companions to the gardens?"

Jack agreed, ignoring the annoyed huff from the Doctor, and his muttered retort about being no one's companion.

"I will. Thanks, Kree."

* * *

The gardens were as beautiful as Jack remembered, and it only made his heart ache even more to think that he couldn't stay there. He longed desperately for peace like this, and to be able to share it with his partner and their daughter.

A jolt went through him and he wondered at exactly which point he'd begun to think of Ianto as Eleya's father. If he was honest with himself, probably from the moment he'd first encouraged her to call Ianto 'Tad'; maybe even before that. What really amazed him, though, was how comfortable he was with that idea. He'd never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, unless it was as a means to an end – that end being getting laid sixty ways to Sunday. And yet he was, being increasingly 'domestic'.

"You know," the Doctor said almost conspiratorially as Jack watched the four people who meant more to him than anything talking and laughing together, "domestic isn't such a bad thing."

The irony of that statement, considering who had just said it, was not in any way lost on Jack, and he rounded on the Time Lord before he could think twice.

"That's rich, coming from the guy who couldn't even tell Rose how he really felt about her." The Doctor flinched and regret filled Jack's face. "I'm sorry. I had no right to say that."

The Doctor lay back slowly on the grass and folded his arms carefully behind his head.

"No, if anyone has the right to say that, it's you. I know you loved her too."

"I did, but more as a sister than anything else." The Doctor raised an eyebrow, and Jack smiled crookedly. "Okay, so maybe not at first. Anyway, that's beside the point. Just tell me one thing, and be honest. If you had another chance, would you waste it?"

"I'd like to say no," the Doctor answered, "but I honestly don't know. The bottom line is that she's human, and I'm not. I could live for another two thousand years, and she won't. It's irrelevant anyway. The walls have closed. She's not coming back."

"Yeah, so you keep saying. If there's one thing I've learnt from you, it's that nothing is impossible."

"I think we've managed to get slightly off-topic here," the Doctor said, giving his former companion a wry look. "Weren't we talking about your sudden inclinations towards domesticity?"

Inevitably, Jack's gaze was drawn towards Eleya, and he felt his heart swell.

"I loved her even before I knew who she was, before I remembered her. I talked about giving her up, but I don't think I ever really intended to do that. Even though it'd be better for her..."

"Would it really?" the Doctor asked pointedly. "She's already been separated from you once, and I don't think it was all that good for either of you."

"Doesn't matter," Jack murmured. "I can't give her up. I don't even want to consider it. She's my daughter, and I won't lose her again."

The Doctor smiled approvingly.

"Good man. You know, Jack... Maybe when this is over, you should seriously consider relocating."

Jack looked down at the Time Lord with a puzzled frown.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean here, to Mendyr. Earth isn't exactly the best place for a little girl like Eleya, especially in the twenty-first century."

"That's a pretty damning thing to say, coming from you," Jack said flatly.

"Ah, Jack. You know how much I love Earth and you humans, but we're talking about your daughter. I remember what you said about rebuilding Torchwood in my honour, and I do appreciate it, even if I've never really shown it. But your responsibility doesn't extend to putting your child at risk."

"With all respect, Doctor, in the end it's my choice. If anyone else has the right to have a say in what happens, it's Ianto. I know I'm going to have to make some tough choices when this is over and no, I'm not looking forward to it, but I know I'll have to choose soon. Just do me a favour...?"

The Doctor laid a hand gently over Jack's.

"No matter what you choose, you have my support."

"Thank you."

"Yes, well, I know you're not the slightest bit interested in my approval anymore." Jack opened his mouth to protest, but the Doctor cut him off. "No, it's fine. It's how it should be, really. You are your own man, and you've proven yourself far more times than most of my other companions. But I will always support you, if I don't always agree with your methods."

Jack smiled wryly. He knew better than to take that the wrong way. He knew how it was meant, and he was touched to the heart.

"Dada!"

Jack sat up straight, only to be bowled over backwards by the whirlwind that was his precious daughter.

"Oi, you little monkey," Ianto called as he came after her. Eleya giggled and wrapped her arms around Jack in a fierce hug. Then, to the astonishment of all, she flung her arms around the Doctor in an equally ferocious hug. Startled though he was, the Time Lord tentatively returned the embrace.

"Unna broon miya Papa dorum," Eleya announced joyfully, and Jack burst out laughing at the baffled look on his old friend's face. The real surprise, though, came when Ianto offered translation before Jack could.

"She said 'Uncle brought me and Papa home'. It seems, Doctor, that you have been officially designated 'Uncle'."

While the Doctor chuckled fondly, Jack peered up at his lover quizzically.

"How did you know what she said?"

Ianto's amused smile faltered.

"I don't know. I just listened, and I knew. I don't know how I knew. I just did."

Jack reached up for Ianto and pulled the unresisting young man down into his arms.

"It's okay, it doesn't matter how."

Ianto, however, looked to Jal and Kyrii, both of whom wore knowing looks.

"You know, don't you?"

"Not precisely," Kyrii answered. "We can made an educated guess, though. Tell us, Ianto, have you ever been tested for what you humans refer to as psychic talent?"

Ianto tried not to look like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights, and when he spoke it was defensively.

"Once. It suggested I have a very minor ability. Sometimes I can sense things when I touch certain items, but it doesn't work very often."

"Well, my dear," Kyrii said, "one of the most common triggers of latent is close proximity to one with powerful talent. In your case, that would be Eleya."

Ianto looked dubious.

"She's only been with us for a few days. How could it happen so quickly? And... what sort of talents?"

Sensing his anxiety, Jack hugged Ianto to him.

"Calm down, sweetheart. You're not likely to suddenly develop telekinesis, or anything like that. What Kyrii is trying to say is that being in close contact with Eleya has just resulted in your own mind opening up a little more, which is why you're starting to understand her."

Realisation dawned on Ianto's face.

"It's not her words I can understand, exactly. It's what she's thinking...?"

"And feeling," Jal confirmed. "I would say that being in contact with Eleya has strengthened whatever gifts you already had, even if you weren't aware that you had them."

Ianto contemplated that, and as he did so he felt gentle fingers brushing against his temples. He looked around to find Kyrii smiling at him.

"You have talent for reading emotions. That can be a blessed gift."

Briefly, but all too vividly, Ianto's mind flashed back to Lisa, and the time that he'd kept her hidden within the bowels of the Hub. He'd always assumed the intense emotional connection he'd had with her throughout that time had been purely because he'd loved her. Maybe, just maybe, there was more to it than that. Still, that was a subject he was less than comfortable revisiting. Instead, he attempted to redirect the focus of the discussion.

"What about you, Jack? How did being here affect you?"

Jack recognised the diversionary tactic for what it was, but didn't argue. He suspected he knew what had been on Ianto's mind, and he had no intention of making him relive those memories.

"I got some psychic training from the Time Agency, but that meant nothing here. I think that for me, it was a combination of being amongst the Mendyrians, and carrying Eleya. Darien had an effect, too. I can't deny that, as much as I might like to."

"Your mind was already open, Jack," Kyrii said. "It only needed a little help from a positive influence. Darien was entirely negative and his treatment of you only reinforced your natural defences. Yes, he was able to force his way into your mind but he could never have triggered your latent talents."

"What latent talents?" Ianto wondered, his curiosity piqued.

"Nothing spectacular," Jack insisted. "Just telepathy, really, and only then if it's someone else reaching out to me. The only person I have that sort of continuous connection with is Eleya."

"So you regained that along with your memories?" the Doctor wondered, but Jack shook his head.

"No, that resurfaced almost straight away. I just didn't see it for what it was at the time."

"That's how you were able to understand her so quickly," Ianto realised.

"And how _you're_ able to understand her now," Jack pointed out. "You've bonded with her, Ianto, and vice-versa."

Ianto smiled fondly at the little girl who was still sitting contentedly on the Doctor's lap.

"Yes," he agreed softly. "We have."

* * *

_to be continued..._


	25. Making Plans

Alex rejoined them an hour later, looking as though she'd never been injured.

"They're incredible," she admitted. "I won't even have any scars!"

"Our healers take pride in their skills," Anna said. "They are among the best in the universe." She looked around at each of them intently. "I have assembled a group to accompany you to the Time Agency. Jack, they will follow your orders without question, but you must remember that they are doing this freely. Whatever happens, you are not to bear the burden of guilt. Do you understand me?"

"Easier said than done, Anna."

She smiled sympathetically at him.

"Yes, well, we will work on that if necessary. Now, I suggest you explain what you're about to do to your daughter. Otherwise, she will not understand why you're leaving her behind."

Jack felt his stomach turn. That was something he'd been hoping to put off for as long as possible, but Anna was right. He needed to tell her, or it would just seem like he was abandoning her. That was something he would not allow.

"C'mon, sweetheart," Jack murmured as he led his puzzled daughter away from the group. "We need to have a little talk."

"Dada...?" Eleya asked. Her earlier joy had evaporated in favour of an anxiety and fear that Jack hated himself for causing. Out of earshot of the others, Jack sat them both down and gathered the little girl to him.

"There's no easy way to say this," he said, slipping with ease into the hybrid dialect that he and Eleya had created between them. "Baby, I have to go away for a little while."

Not unexpectedly, Eleya wrapped her arms around him and gave a distressed cry.

"No! Don't go away! Don't leave again!"

"Eleya, I have to, but I swear it won't be like last time. I will come back. I promise you, baby. There is nothing in this universe that can keep me from coming back to you."

She was not convinced, and continued to cling fiercely to him.

"Dada stay. Tad stay. Aunty Alex stay. We all stay together. Please, Dada..."

Jack wanted to weep. Oh, how he wanted that, too, but there were five lives that depended on him taking a stand now.

"Eleya, listen to me. Our friends are in trouble. Tosh, Owen, Gwen, Bobby and Donna are all in trouble. The nasty people who have been chasing us took them prisoner. They're in a lot of danger right now, and if I don't try to help them..."

"They might get dead," Eleya said softly, tearfully. Jack nodded, hugging her tightly. He hated himself for having to be so brutally honest, but Anna had been right. Eleya had needed to know the truth, or she would never have understood.

"I'll help!"

Jack did a double-take.

"What? Eleya..."

"I'm a big girl," she told him with a ferocity that was born of childish determination. "I can help. I'm brave too. Wanna help."

Overcome with emotion, Jack hugged Eleya to him fiercely.

"I love you so much, Li-Li. Yes, you are very brave and I am so proud of you... but you can't come. Before you argue with me, let me explain."

Eleya pouted, but waited for him to speak.

"All right. Li-Li, I love you so much. I don't doubt how brave you are, but the truth is that I'm not as brave as you think. There's something that scares me so badly that even just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach."

"What?" Eleya asked tentatively. Jack rested his forehead against hers.

"Losing you. If I took you with me, I would be so worried and scared for you that I wouldn't be paying attention to anything else."

Tears spilled down her cheeks.

"If I come, someone else might get hurt because you're worried about me."

"Baby, I'm worried _you_ might get hurt because I wouldn't be thinking clearly. I need you to be safe, Li-Li. I need you to stay here with Grammy and Grappa so that I don't have to worry if you're okay. And then when we've rescued our friends and stopped the nasty people once and for all, then I'll come and get you and we can be a family again."

Eleya clutched at Jack tightly and cried softly into his shoulder. Jack was seriously starting to hate himself when movement alerted him to Ianto's presence. The younger man seated himself carefully beside Jack, and put his arms around both man and child.

"Tad," Eleya whimpered. Ianto kissed her forehead.

"Dada and I will only be gone a little while, I promise. And when we come back, you won't have to run from the bad people every again."

Eleya crawled from Jack's arms into Ianto's.

"I'm scared."

"We know, baby," Ianto murmured. "But I promise you that I'll look after your dada. You're not going to lose him again."

Eleya pulled back to look at them both imploringly.

"Tad look after Dada. Dada look after Tad. Dada and Tad both have to come back."

"We will," Jack promised her fervently. _Even if I have to kill every last one_.

* * *

Anna had organised a team of five Mendyrians to accompany them. The real surprise was when it became apparent that Anna was among that number. Jack knew better than to openly question her decision, but still risked a disapproving frown.

"Jack," she said with a smile that was borderline patronising, "how could I possibly ask any of my people to undertake a task that I am not willing to attempt myself? You are a born leader. You know I'm right."

He had no argument for that, much to his annoyance.

And then, finally, they were ready to move. Jal and Kyrii had taken Eleya with them already, as Jack didn't want to upset her further by watching the TARDIS disappear.

"Are we ready?" the Doctor asked, eyeing the group with approval. In addition to himself, Jack, Ianto and Alex, there was also Anna, Krandl, Kree and a younger man called Lu that Jack didn't personally know, and...

"Weren't there five of you coming with us?" Ianto asked. Anna nodded.

"Yes, and I do believe she is coming now."

On cue, the gateway that led to the area where the TARDIS sat opened and the last of their number came running.

"Maera?" Jack whispered hoarsely, stunned by the appearance of yet another familiar face. Anna smiled indulgently.

"She would not be left behind. And I suggest you don't try to convince her otherwise. Our Maera has become a formidable talent, and I don't doubt she will be ready for a position on the Elder Council before long."

Jack barely heard her. His focus on the young woman running towards him, tears on her face and in her eyes.

"Jack!"

She collided with him and Jack barely kept them both from toppling over.

"We thought we'd lost you forever," Maera sobbed as she clung to him fiercely.

"It's okay," Jack whispered, hugging her equally ferociously. "We found our way home."

"I am so sorry, my brother. I am so sorry I didn't stop them from taking you."

Jack sighed softly.

"It wasn't your fault, Maera. There wasn't anything you could have done. It happened too quickly. It was fate."

"Rubbish," she snapped. "I don't believe in fate. Neither do you."

"Once upon a time, I didn't. Now, I'm not so sure. What I am sure of is that in being so determined to have Eleya, the Agency has sealed its own fate. I'm ending it, Maera. The Agency, and anyone within the Agency who tries to stop me."

She met his gaze unflinchingly, and he knew she understood without him needing to spell it out.

"You know I'm with you all the way, Jack. I've been waiting a long time to pay back the hurt those shakkrans caused when they took you and Eleya. I'm with you all the way, brother."

"Just promise me you won't take any unnecessary risks? Especially for me? It's important, Maera. I don't have time to explain it to you right now, but don't put yourself at risk, even if it looks like I might be killed. _Especially _if it looks like that could happen. Promise me, Maera, or you won't be coming with us."

She looked puzzled, but agreed nonetheless.

"I swear, Jack."

The relief on his face was palpable.

"Thank you."

"Great. Now, let's end this so you and your little one can be safe."

* * *

Bobby awoke to a screaming headache, the likes of which he'd rarely experienced. It reminded him of the horrendous effect of Jack's vortex manipulator, only far worse. He opened his eyes slowly, and was alarmed by the greyish-white hue that obscured his vision.

"Shut your eyes and try to relax. It'll ease off quicker if you don't fight it."

The words were English, although in an odd dialect that Bobby had to think about in order to understand. Going against instinct, Bobby made a concerted effort to do as the as-yet unidentified person suggested. It took a few minutes, but the crushing pain gradually subsided to a tolerable level. Warily, he opened his eyes again and felt considerable relief at having his sight back to normal. His gaze found the one who had spoken and he started up, only to suffer a renewed wave of pain.

"Easy, there. Don't be in a hurry to move, my friend. You aren't going anywhere anyway."

A single look around told Bobby it was the truth. He and his mysterious companion were in a small cell, no bigger than ten or twelve feet square and surrounded by walls of light that hummed ominously.

"Electrified walls?" Bobby asked, grimacing at the thickness of his tongue as he tried to speak. There was a slight pause, Bobby assumed as his cellmate tried to comprehend his dialect in return.

"And then some. Not enough of a charge to kill you, but you'll be walking with a limp for the next galactic year."

"Thanks for the advice," Bobby said ruefully. Sitting up slowly, he offered a slightly trembling hand to the other man. "I'm Bobby Goren."

"Joss Alderley. Mind me asking who you pissed off to end up here?"

"I don't think it was personal. Not against me, anyway. But I think they believe I can tell them where to find what they're looking for."

"Which would be what...?"

Bobby hesitated, unwilling to trust a complete stranger in an unfamiliar environment. Joss smiled grimly.

"Good. You're smart. Might help you last a little longer."

Bobby eyed him critically, taking in the man's pale, bruised and emaciated features.

"How long have you been here?"

"Don't know for sure. Maybe two galactic standard months... I don't think it's been longer than that. It's easy to lose track when you've jumped around as much as I have."

"When are you from?"

Joss's eyebrows shot up at Bobby's turn of phrase.

"Fifty-first century. You?"

"Twenty-first."

"Damn. They must be desperate, to be picking people from as far back as that. Tell me, Bobby, did they take you on your own? Or was there more than one of you?"

"There were six of us altogether, but they left one of us behind... Something about leaving a message for our captain."

Bobby caught the look Joss gave him, and nodded.

"I know what that means, but I have to trust that Alex could protect herself. I won't accept that she's... that she didn't..."

Joss sighed.

"Look, I'm not the type to offer false hope, but I hope you're right, I really do. Enough blood has been spilt already."

Bobby fell quiet, turning his attention to his surroundings. There was precious little to see. It was impossible to see through the walls, and he could hear nothing beyond to suggest that anyone else was within close proximity. He was frightened, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it. Despite that, though, he found that he didn't regret his decision. To have stayed with the NYPD would surely have killed him – in spirit, if not in body. Even now, trapped as he was, he felt at peace with his choices.

"If you don't mind me saying so, you don't seem like a man who knows his life is on the line."

Bobby couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, I do know it, believe me, and I am scared. I just have faith in my captain."

The former detective swallowed an urge to laugh. Those were words he hadn't felt comfortable saying since Jimmy Deakins resigned from the NYPD.

"Must be some bloke, if you're trusting him to save you from the Agency."

Joss was pushing subtly for answers. Bobby knew it, but had no intention of allowing himself to be drawn in.

"He is," he answered simply. "The Agency isn't going to know what hit them. He'll help you too, Joss, if you want him to."

Joss huffed derisively.

"Excuse me if I don't get my hopes up. This isn't the type of place that a person can walk in and out of at will, unless they're a part of the hierarchy."

"Time Agents, you mean?"

Curiosity filled Joss's face.

"That's more than I expected a twenty-first century human to know. Just who is this amazing captain of yours that he could clue you in to the existence of the fifty-first century equivalent of the CIA, and that you seem to think the Agency can't stop him?"

"Please tell me the CIA isn't still functioning," Bobby asked with a grimace. Joss chuckled humourlessly.

"No, it isn't. I'm just well-versed in Earth history. So, are you going to answer me or not?"

Bobby hesitated long enough to recall that Taark and her crew already knew that Jack was in the picture – pun not intended – and that he was also likely to arrive at any time. He only hoped that Alex had been able to give him sufficient warning, so that Jack knew to expect a welcoming party.

"I don't know his real name," Bobby said finally, "but he goes by the name Jack Harkness."

"Popular name, Jack. I'm stuck in this mess because of a bloke by that name. It's not his fault, mind you. I'm not saying that at all. But sometimes, you can't help wondering whether it's really worth it. Especially when it just lands you here."

Bobby gazed at Joss wonderingly, his mind in a whirl. Was it possible that they were talking about the same man? If they were, then did that mean he'd been placed with Joss deliberately? He couldn't discount anything, including the likelihood that one wrong word could land them both in some serious trouble.

He thought back carefully to the assumptions that Taark had made, and decided to take a chance.

"Li-Li found her dada."

Joss froze. His gaze came to rest on Bobby's face, and his expression was equal parts disbelieving and hopeful. Bobby said nothing else. All he offered was a tiny smile before shutting his eyes and attempting to relax and calm his body and mind. He heard Joss let his breath out in a soft huff before the other man settled as well.

No more was said. No more needed to be said.

* * *

Dorn scowled as he turned away from the viewer, and his harsh stare quickly found Jaydn Taark.

"Well, that was useless. All we've got is confirmation of what we already know."

"They did say that they hadn't seen him for some time," Taark offered. "Maybe the girl arrived at that location much earlier than we thought.

"Oh, please. I expect the grunts to be imbeciles. Not you. No, he was close by, and he has the little bitch with him. There'll be no more mistakes, Taark. The moment he shows his face, he's to be killed, even if it's in front of the girl. We'll do a complete mind wipe on her if need be, but I am not losing her again."

"What about the prisoners, sir?"

"Well... We need them for bait, but dead meat attracts the animals just as well as live meat. Kill them, and leave the bodies where our prodigal son will find them."

Taark grinned, finding that task much more to her liking.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Whilst Bobby had been expecting it, he was still caught by surprise when the electrified walls vanished and a previously unnoticed door opened. Jaydn Taark walked in with a gun in her hand and a smug grin on her face.

"Come to kill us?" Joss asked in a resigned tone. "You do realise that would be counter-productive? I mean, I assume you are using us as bait to lure Jack and trap him and his little girl?

Jaydn shrugged.

"Well, as Commander Dorn says, dead meat will attract an animal just as well as live meat. Either way, you'll both serve your purposes."

"What are you going to do when he comes?" Bobby asked as he got awkwardly to his feet.

"We're going to kill him, and put an end to it once and for all. Then we'll take his little bitch and... What is so funny?"

Bobby couldn't help himself. He burst out laughing and couldn't stop. The mere thought that these people, who had clearly been a thorn in Jack's side for so long, believed they could get rid of Jack permanently was enough to reduce Bobby to hysterics. He roared with laughter, all the while fully conscious of the strange looks he was getting from both Taark and Joss.

"Are you insane?" Taark demanded.

"It's possible," Bobby admitted. "After all, my mom was legally mentally non compos, and my dad turned out to be a serial killer, so you could argue that he wasn't all there, either. But there is one thing I know for sure."

"And what would that be?" Taark asked, more amused now than anything.

Bobby's hand shot out, grabbing the weapon from her hands and turning it swiftly on her before she could stop him.

"When you've been ordered to execute someone, always take back-up with you."

"Nice move, my friend," Joss remarked. Bobby smiled thinly.

"Just a little move I learnt from my army days. Now, you're going to take us to my friends, and we're going to release them. Is that clear?"

"You're a walking dead man," Taark growled. It seemed that her sense of self-preservation was strong, for she acquiesced and moved back to let them out. "You'll be dead before you can leave."

"You were coming to kill us anyway," Bobby said. "So what's the difference if we delay it for a little bit? Now go. Take us to where you're holding my friends."

"Answer me one thing," Taark said as she started walking. "What did I say that was so funny?"

"You really want to know?"

Taark's scowl deepened.

"I asked, didn't I?"

Bobby chuckled.

"It's just that you have no idea what you're saying when you talk about killing Jack, and you're going to get the shock of your life if you try."

Taark sneered at him over her shoulder.

"Oh, we're not as clueless as you think. We have ways of containing the girl so that we can take her precious daddy about of the equation. She's no threat to us, I assure you."

Joss grimaced, but was stunned to see that Bobby's grin only widened at Taark's retort. Bobby saw him staring, and only winked at him in reassurance.

* * *

"Will you bloody sit down? You're giving me a ruddy headache."

Gwen ceased her incessant pacing of the small cell, but refused to sit. It was a small act of defiance, but right then she relished anything that didn't lend itself to her feeling utterly helpless.

Why, though, did she have to be imprisoned with Donna? Why not Tosh? Or better still, Owen or Bobby. What she wouldn't have given right then for a cuddle with someone who was actually capable of showing a little sympathy...

"Oi, snap out of it, blondie. This is no time to start trying out astral projection."

Gwen spun around to glare at the other woman, fed up with what she felt were unwarranted jibes.

"I am not blond! And I was not trying astral projection! I am trying to work out how to get us out of here."

Donna rolled her eyes.

"All right, then. No need to get tetchy."

"Yes, well, I don't see you doing anything productive."

Donna regarded Gwen with a look that spoke volumes about what she thought of Gwen right at that moment.

"I bloody well am. I'm waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Gwen scoffed. A deeper instinct warned her that she was wading into dangerous territory, but fear and adrenalin kept her talking. "Your precious Time Lord to come and save us? Jack said he couldn't land that ship of his in the right time or place to save his own life, let alone anyone else's. Why on earth would you trust him to get it right now?"

Donna's expression turned positively glacial, and she got up to meet Gwen head-on.

"Listen here, Little Miss Sunshine. I don't know what your issues are, and I don't really care. What I care about is getting out of this alive, and you aren't helping with that. Now, our best chance is the Doctor. You don't have to like it, but you sure as hell better accept it. Got it?"

Gwen started hard at Donna for a good half a minute before a weak smile flickered across her face.

"You really must give him a run for his money."

Donna returned the smile with a smug grin of her own.

"You're better believe it, sweetheart."

A soft groan escaped Gwen's lips and she ran her fingers through her hair in agitation.

"I'm sorry. We shouldn't be arguing. I'm just..."

"Scared?" Donna suggested lightly with an understanding and sympathy in her eyes that Gwen had to fight not to snap at.

"A little, yeah."

Finally, a genuine smile formed on Donna's face.

"So am I. Doesn't mean we have to let it control us, does it?"

Gwen stared at Donna, taking in the other woman's sure and determined expression. Her entire countenance radiated confidence, and for that Gwen couldn't help feeling a tiny hint of jealousy.

"Do you really believe that he'll show up in time to help us? The Doctor, I mean?"

"He did the last time, didn't he? When Jack, Ianto and Bobby were all in trouble, he was right in time to save them."

With some reluctance, Gwen conceded that point.

"All right, I'll agree with that, but..."

Donna held up both hands, silencing Gwen.

"You trust Jack, right?"

"With my life," Gwen answered without hesitation.

"Well, Jack trusts the Doctor with his. Why don't you think on that for a while before we keep on with this conversation?"

Chastened, Gwen sank to the floor and buried her face in her arms.

"We have to get out of here," she whispered. "Jack, where are you?"

* * *

_to be continued..._


	26. Rescue

"So what's the plan?" Maera asked once the TARDIS was in flight. "I'm assuming there is a plan? Because, you know I'm good if there isn't. We can just go in and turn the place to space dust, if you want."

"Be calm, Maera," Anna advised her gently. "I would hope the plan would be to avoid blood-shed."

"We go in and find my team," Jack said, pointedly avoiding looking at Anna. "I have their DNA programmed into my manipulator, so finding them should be the easy part. Then, once everyone's safe in the TARDIS..."

"Hold it," Alex cut him off abruptly with a frown. "What do you mean, _everyone_? What are you planning?"

When Jack shot her a look, she glared right back at him unapologetically.

"I know that look, Jack. Bobby got it every time he was planning to do something monumentally stupid, and he didn't want me caught in the crossfire."

Looking around, Jack took in the unyielding stares of his friends and family, and knew he had no choice but to answer. What they were about to embark on was too dangerous to leave them in the dark about anything, and he knew it. He swallowed a sigh, and prepared himself to be lambasted.

"Once that's done, I want to take just a small team with me to go after the Head of the Agency."

"Commander Dorn?" Anna wondered, temporarily forestalling any discussion on just who that team might comprise of, or of the wisdom of such an action.

"No," Jack answered. "Dorn is second in command. "The man in charge is called Argus Dinn. Everyone thinks Dorn is in charge, and it's a well-kept secret that he's not."

"How do you know about this man, then?" the Doctor asked.

"Because I was unlucky enough to meet him twice. The first time was when I was recruited to the Agency, but I had no idea who he really was back then. I thought he was just another drill sergeant. The second time was just before they wiped my memory. Then I wasn't given any doubt about who he was. He gave me an ultimatum. Give him Eleya or I'd spend the rest of my life as a personal whipping boy for every senior officer that I'd managed to piss off in my career. He meant it, too. When I woke up after having my memory wiped, I found I'd been reassigned as a private assistant to the officers of Omega Squadron."

"Private assistant?" Alex echoed, suspicion in her voice. Jack nodded, looking slightly green around the gills as he recalled the unpleasant memories from so long ago.

"Let's just say that 'personal assistant' would have taken on a whole new meaning with those sadists. The last sorry bastard to get that job lasted six weeks."

"Did he quit?" Maera asked softly, although the look on her face and her tone of voice suggested that she knew better.

"In a manner of speaking. He hung himself in his quarters. I had no intention of letting that happen to me. So between that, being battered and bruised, and having no memory of the last two years, I ran."

"And now you've come full circle," Anna murmured. "Have you decided which of us will go with you to confront this man, Argus Dinn?"

Jack locked gazes with her, and she offered a small, assuring smile. She was not arguing with his choice of tactics, and was putting paid to any protests from anyone else. No one, not even the Doctor, appeared to be willing to lock horns with the Head Elder, and for that Jack was immensely grateful. He'd lost track of the number of times he'd had to fight to justify his choices and actions. Right now, there simply wasn't the time.

"Yes, I have. I want the Doctor with me; you, Anna, and Ianto."

The surprise on Ianto's face was palpable, but also tinged with gratitude, and he smiled warmly at Jack when the Captain's gaze met his briefly. Visibly bolstered, Jack spoke with fresh resolve.

"I don't want there to be bloodshed, but once we get there, it's not going to take long before they'll be after us. Once that's the case, there might just not be a choice."

"There's always a choice, Jack," the Doctor said quietly. Jack didn't miss a beat. He'd expected such an argument from the Time Lord, and was ready to counter it. He hated butting heads with his old friend, but the truth was that he knew the Time Agency far better than the Doctor and a noble resolve to avoid violence wasn't going to encourage their enemies to do the same.

"I agree, and I will not make a choice that will get anyone here killed. That's what it comes down to for me, Doctor. If my only choice is between one of them and one of you, I will choose you."

"Well, then," the Doctor said wryly, "I suppose we just have to make sure that you don't get placed in a position where you have to make that choice."

Favouring the Doctor with a cool look, Anna spoke reassuringly to Jack.

"You know our laws well, Jack. I taught you myself. You know we abhor violence and bloodshed, but what you do now is to protect your child and that should always take priority. You have our support, no matter what you feel you need to do."

Jack felt some of the tension bleed out of him at her words. He didn't doubt that the Doctor supported him, but there was always that niggling, underlying feeling of needing to prove his worth to the ancient Time Lord. He had proved himself to the Mendyrians once, long ago, and they expected no more of him.

He felt movement at his side, and knew without needing to look that it was Ianto, offering silent support as always. He took courage from it and felt his nerves settle just a little.

"Doctor? How far away are we?"

"We'll be landing in two minutes," the Doctor answered. "Jack, do you still have that perception filter I made for you?"

"Yes, but it's not going to be effective. Time Agents are trained to see through perception filters, and they're going to be looking for us."

"It's a TARDIS key, Jack. It's slightly stronger than your average perception filter. It might only give you a couple of seconds of advantage, but you know as well as I do how much difference just a couple of seconds can make."

Jack conceded to that, and patted his pocket.

"I have it if we need it."

"All right," the Doctor announced. "We've landed."

"We can't have landed yet," Jack protested in confusion. "She didn't make that grinding noise. She always makes that noise!"

"I thought more of a stealth landing was in order," the Doctor said with a quirk of his lips. "Besides... She makes that noise because I tend to, you know... leave the parking brake on."

A ripple of laughter swept through the group at the somewhat sheepish admission. Jack started to speak, only to be stopped by Ianto.

"If you're about to comment on the Doctor's driving skills, I suggest you think twice, or I might feel the urge to share what happened to our SUV last year when you decided a joyride through Splott was a good idea."

Jack went red, much to the amusement and interest of all. Favouring Ianto with a mock glare, Jack promptly redirected the discussion.

"Okay, Doctor, where have we landed?"

"Prison Level G. You said that was the most likely place where they'd be."

Jack nodded grimly.

"That's where they hold prisoners that they want to interrogate. The cells are designed to hold a maximum of two people, and we have no way of knowing whether they'll all be close together."

"I can get into their computer system if we can find a terminal," the Doctor offered, but Anna shook her head.

"No. That will not only alert them to our presence, but tell them exactly where we are. I have a better method in mind. Jack, I want you to shut your eyes and focus on those who were taken. Picture them clearly in your mind. Sight, sound, and even smell, if you can. Focus your mind."

Understanding lit up Jack's eyes and he closed his eyes and concentrated.

"What are they doing?" Alex asked softly as the five Mendyrians drew in close around Jack and laid their hands on him. The Doctor joined her and Ianto, all the while watching the scene before them with bright eyes and a knowing smile.

"They're sharing Jack's memories. When they've completed the process, they'll each be able to track our wayward friends. One of ours to each Mendyrian."

"We'll be able to find them without hacking into the system," Alex realised. "And without alerting them to our presence too soon," the Doctor confirmed. "They really are brilliant."

"Yes," Ianto agreed, thinking of the Mendyrians' complete acceptance of his lover and partner. "They are brilliant."

It was done in less than a minute. The Mendyrians moved away from Jack as one, and Anna looked pointedly to the Doctor.

"Open the doors, please, Doctor. We're ready."

* * *

Tosh sat quietly in the cell, cradling Owen in her arms. She would have preferred it be the other way around, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

Owen had woken shortly after her, and in his agitation had either not heard or simply ignored her warning about the electrified walls. She'd thought at first that he'd killed himself after watching with horror as he was electrocuted, but was relieved to find him only stunned. It seemed that their captors didn't want them dead – yet.

"Please, tell me that I just had a really vivid dream, and that we're all still in the Hub, and I just tripped over the power cable to the rift manipulator again."

Tosh smiled.

"Sorry. No such luck."

"Bugger. I'm not coming down after going on a bender?"

"Nope. This is reality."

"Bugger."

She expected him to make some effort to extricate himself from her, and was pleased when he didn't.

"I'm getting déjà vu," Owen murmured after a while. "Except, the last time we were like this, I'd been shot, you'd been smacked in the head, Gwen was poisoned and Jack took a swan dive off a roof. The bloody Time Agency was at fault for that, too."

"Not the whole organisation," Tosh reminded him, though she was at a loss to know why she was making even a superficial effort to defend it. "That was John Hart, remember?"

Owen snorted.

"He's a Time Agent, isn't he? Therefore, I hold the entire establishment responsible for our ongoing issues. Shit... I don't suppose that scarily brilliant mind of yours has figured out how to get us out of here?"

The embarrassment and shame on her face had Owen wanting to kick himself up the arse.

"I'm sorry," Tosh whispered tremulously. "I can't. This technology... It's beyond anything I've ever seen, and I don't know how to shut it down. If I could get out, and find a control terminal, then maybe..."

Feeling an absolute arse, Owen eased himself out of Tosh's arms and gently guided her to lean into him. He wrapped his arms around her, taking an almost guilty pleasure in the feel of her in his arms.

"Shush," he murmured. "It'll be okay. I'm sorry, Tosh. This isn't your fault, love, and it's not on you to try and save everyone."

"But it is up to Jack."

Owen wasn't entirely sure whether that was an accusation, or just a statement of fact. Either way, he felt obliged to say something encouraging.

"He'll be here before we know it, guns blazing and all righteous fury..."

Tosh laughed softly.

"And probably with the Doctor right behind him, wagging his finger and telling him that guns aren't the answer."

Owen snorted in amusement. Tosh giggled again, and a moment later they were both laughing.

"Seriously, though," Owen said with a smile, "he'll come for us. Remember the Brecon Beacons?"

Tosh's smile faded rapidly and she shuddered in Owen's arms.

"God, how could I forget?"

"Remember how Jack crashed through the wall in that bloody tractor? And he took down every single one of those sick bastards. It'll be no different now. You'll see."

Tosh shut her eyes, taking what comfort she could from Owen's embrace. Truth be told, she had no doubt that Jack would come for them. What was really distressing her now was the way being locked up here was reminding her of a previous incarceration in a tiny UNIT cell.

Had Owen asked, she might have just blamed her reaction on claustrophobia. It was a nice, simple excused that wouldn't have needed any further explanation. It would have been a lie, though.

It wasn't the restrictive space, but actually being locked up that was starting to do her head in. Being locked up for no reason, with no right of reply – that was what was getting at her now.

Like Owen, she trusted Jack with her life. She didn't doubt that he'd come for them like some sort of immortal avenging angel. She just couldn't bring herself to wholeheartedly believe that he would reach them in time. Her thoughts shifted to the Time Agent who had so ruthlessly captured them all. Jaydn Taark reminded her vividly not of the UNIT soldiers who had held her prisoner, but of the people who had abducted her mother and coerced her into committing treason. They were ruthless, and willing to do whatever they needed to in order to get what they wanted.

In this case, that something was a precious little girl who only wanted to be with her daddy.

"Do you think she's safe?" she asked, all the while knowing that Jack would never take a risk with his daughter. To his credit, Owen understood who Tosh meant without needing her to spell it out.

"I'm sure of it. They won't get her. They don't have a hope in hell."

"Of all the things to come through the rift," Tosh murmured. "Who would have thought it would give us something so precious? I hope it worked, Owen. I hope Jack got his memories back."

"So do I, Tosh, love."

A soft hiss alerted them to the deactivation of the electrified walls. Tosh breathed a sigh of relief at the sudden openness of their surroundings before registering the people suddenly standing in front of them. Her first, panicked thought was that they were Time Agents, until her eyes found a familiar sight.

"Alex?" Owen burst out, before Tosh had a chance to speak. "Damn, you are a sight for sore eyes!"

"We were so scared they were going to kill you," Tosh admitted as Alex helped her up. Alex smiled ruefully.

"They tried, but the guy they left behind didn't count on a pre-historic guard dog. I owe Myfanwy a very big bar of chocolate."

Tosh abruptly threw her arms around Alex in a fierce hug which the former detective willingly returned.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Tosh murmured. Alex smiled again, and gently detached herself from Tosh's arms.

"The same goes for both of you. Guys, this is Lu and Krandl. They're old acquaintances of Jack's, and they're here to help."

"Come," Krandl told them with a hint of urgency in his voice. "We must return to the TARDIS."

"Old acquaintances?" Owen asked, sounding just slightly suspicious.

"Don't ask questions," Alex warned him. "Save them for when we're all safe."

Owen acquiesced, if somewhat reluctantly.

"Well, if Jack trusts them, then we can as well. All right, then. Let's get the hell out of here."

* * *

When they opened the door to Donna and Gwen's cell, the Doctor allowed Anna to go first. Whilst he had no doubt that Donna would be happy to see him, the simple truth was that he just couldn't put it past her to give him a slap. Kree regarded him amusedly.

"So, you've found yourself a companion who does not... how do the Earthlings say it? She doesn't believe the sun shines out of your shorts."

The Doctor was indignant as he followed Anna into the cell.

"I do not wear shorts, thank you very much."

A moment later, he was nearly knocked off his feet when Donna flung herself at him. He'd barely had time to recover from the unexpected hug when she pulled back and slapped him across the face.

"Ouch!" the Doctor whined, holding one hand to his cheek. "What was that for?"

"For taking so bloody long!" Donna railed at him. "Do you have any idea how long we've been here?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," the Doctor retorted. "It's been a grand total of about three and a half hours!"

"He is right, you know," Gwen offered, only to be silenced by the force of Donna's glare.

"That's not the bloody point! He ought to know better than anyone what can happen in three and a half hours."

The look on the Doctor's face spoke in volumes, telling them just how right Donna was. For several long seconds, a discomforting silence reigned. Then, a smile broke out over Donna's face and she dragged the befuddled Time Lord back in for another hug.

"You dumbo, of course I'm glad to see you."

"All right," Anna intervened, though her expression showed she was equally amused. "If the dramatics are over, perhaps we can be on our way?"

"Ah, and who are you, exactly?" Gwen asked, frowning at Anna.

"Donna, Miss Cooper," the Doctor said with a small flourish, "meet Anna and Kree. They are both Elders of Mendyr."

"And that means exactly nothing to us," Donna retorted.

"Jack and Eleya are our kin," Anna stated simply. "Jack by choice and Eleya by birth. We have come to aid you out of love for them."

"Sorry," Gwen said, her frown deepening. "What do you mean, by choice? Whose choice?"

"That is not my story to tell," Anna answered. "It's Jack's to tell, when and if he chooses to do so. I can see you care for him very much, so I trust you will demonstrate that by not trying to force him to give you answers before he is ready, or by trying to coerce them from others."

Gwen's mouth snapped shut, effectively silencing whatever she might have been intending to say. Anna nodded in satisfaction.

"Thank you. Now, I suggest we go quickly. Company is coming, and I believe we would be better off not allowing it to catch up to us."

* * *

Jack felt sick to his stomach when they came to where Maera sensed Bobby's presence the strongest, only to find an empty cell. He hoped it didn't mean what he feared, but he had no other explanation. There was no sign of a struggle, and Jack dared not hope that Bobby might have somehow escaped. He knew his Time Agent colleagues far too well, and hoping only made the loss so much harder to bear.

"There were two in here," Maera said. "One of them was your friend. I don't know who the other one was."

"But they were both taken from in here," Jack said bleakly.

"I'm not so sure," Maera said with a curious tone. "I'm sensing determination, not fear. I think that when they left, they were in charge."

"You think they might have escaped, then?" Ianto asked, voicing the hope that Jack didn't dare express.

"Without a doubt," Maera confirmed, grinning finally. She leaned over and nudged Jack. "Don't be so begative, little brother. Your friend is still alive and strong. Now, let's go find him."

"Little brother?" Ianto echoed in amusement as they started moving again. Jack huffed, but his indignation was tempered by the warmth that spread through him at her affection, and the memories it invoked.

She had adopted him as her little brother, much in the same way that Jal and Kyrii had adopted him as their son. It had been yet another new experience for him, and after the long-lingering trauma of losing Gray, it was a welcome one.

"I'm older than she is," he grumbled, but couldn't quite suppress a smile.

"Only in age," Maera answered back cheerfully. "C'mon, you two. Your friend is close by. Let's get this done, and then we can talk properly. I want to get to know you better, Ianto, if you're going to be my brother in-law."

Ianto nearly choked.

"He hasn't... We aren't..."

"Well, he ought to, and you definitely should be. When we're all safe, you two are going to talk to Anna about a commitment ceremony."

"Maera," Jack interjected gently, "it isn't as simple as that."

She stopped so abruptly that they both nearly collided with her.

"Do you love Ianto?" she demanded of Jack.

"Yes," Jack answered without hesitation. Maera looked intently at Ianto.

"And do you love Jack?"

"Yes, I do," Ianto confirmed. Maera nodded in satisfaction.

"Then it is that simple. Now, c'mon. We have a rescue to take care of."

As Maera ran on ahead of them, Ianto spoke ruefully to Jack.

"She's quite formidable."

Jack chuckled.

"You noticed."

"She also loves you very much. So do Jal and Kyrii. I can understand why you wanted to stay on Mendyr."

Jack caught Ianto's hand in his own and squeezed it lightly. He could hear the uncertainty in his lover's voice, and was anxious to reassure him.

"Yes, but you're the reason I want to stay on Earth."

Ianto gazed at Jack, as though he hardly dared to hope.

"Really?"

"Don't you understand?" Jack asked, pain fleetingly visible in his eyes. "If it hadn't been for you, I would have accepted the Doctor's offer after that year. I would never have come back. But I meant what I said. I came back for you. I love Owen, Tosh and Gwen, but I came back for you."

Any intentions that Ianto might have briefly harboured of pinning Jack to the wall and snogging him senseless were put on hold when they rounded the corner and were forced to a very abrupt halt. On one side of the corridor there was Commander Dorn and a squad of Agency security enforcers. On the other side was Taark, Bobby and yet one more familiar face.

"Joss?" Jack whispered in shock. Joss met his gaze, and a grin lit up his pale face.

"Now there's a sight for sore eyes. I really thought these bastards had killed you."

"They changed their minds," Jack said, firing a dark look in Dorn's direction. "Decided they'd better keep me around for a while longer."

"That's a mistake I won't make again," Dorn snarled, glaring at Jack who returned the look with one of equal hatred.

"Commander Dorn. I won't say it's a pleasure to see you again, because it's not."

"Where is she, Agent?" Dorn demanded. "Where is the girl?"

"Doesn't waste time, does he?" Maera retorted. Jack ignored Maera for the moment. His focus was on Dorn, and he dared not let it stray.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Time Agency did not look a whole lot different from when Jack had last laid eyes on him. Where the real difference lay was in the eyes. Dorn's eyes reflected the madness, the evil and the all-consuming hunger for power that was absorbing him. The last time Jack had seen anything like it had been when he'd looked into the eyes of the Master.

"She's safely out of your reach, Dorn."

"Is that so? Then why are you here, and not hiding like the worthless coward that you are?"

"He's no coward, you filthy shakkra," Maera snarled. Dorn looked at her scathingly.

"Stay out of this, girl, and if you're lucky you'll be let go with just the last twenty-four hours erased."

Maera bristled visibly at the curt dismissal, but Jack's hand on her should stilled further arguments.

"I'm here to end this, Dorn," Jack answered in a tone that Ianto knew all-too-well, and that never ceased to scare the hell out of him. "You've chased me and my little girl long enough. No more, do you hear me?"

Far from being intimidated, though, Dorn only laughed.

"You arrogant little bastard. You're in no position to be making demands. Your bitch daughter belongs to the Time Agency, just like you. Tell me where she is, or don't. I don't give a fuck. We'll find her sooner or later, I guarantee it. All you've done is sacrifice yourself for nothing." Dorn took a step towards Jack, and his blaster swung around to aim and Jack's head. "You always did think you were the be-all-and-end-all of everything. Well, I've got news for you, you dumb bastard. The Time Agency was here long before you were born, and it'll still be around long after you're dead."

Jack couldn't resist the urge to smirk. He didn't even try.

"I'd like to see the odds on that. Ianto? Bobby? Care to make a wager on it?"

Ianto only smiled, while Bobby uttered a short bark of laughter.

"Not on your life, Jack."

Jack grinned at Bobby's unintentional pun.

"You smug little bastard," Dorn snarled. Jack's grin faded as rapidly as it had appeared, and he strode forward until the muzzle of Dorn's weapon was resting against his forehead.

"Go ahead. Pull the trigger. Kill me. Do it!"

"Jack, no!" Joss yelled. Panicked, he charged at Dorn before Bobby could stop him. The air around them exploded into a cacophony of sound and light as blasters fired all at once. When it cleared, Joss was on the floor, unmoving.

"You son of a bitch!" Jack exploded and lunged at Dorn, any semblance of a plan going out the window at Joss's apparent death. Dorn didn't hesitate. With a feral grin, he swung his blaster around, and shot Jack in the head at point blank range.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	27. Final Preparations

Maera uttered a distressed cry as Jack's lifeless body crumpled to the floor, while Ianto and Bobby looked on in silent, weary resignation. Dorn's victory was short-lived, though. As her cry escalated to a scream of rage, Maera unleashed her power.

Dorn's smirk was wiped from his face in an instant as an invisible force lifted him clean off his feet and slammed him hard enough into a nearby wall to drive the air from his lungs. There he hung, humiliated and helpless.

"You're Mendyrian," Taark exclaimed in shock. Maera gave her a feral look.

"That's right, and your commander just killed my brother."

"Someone, stop her," Dorn wheezed out. Weapons rose, but a simple glance from Maera broke them into ineffectual pieces. One of the agents ran at her, but he never made it within three feet. Maera hissed softly, her eyes narrowing to slits with the effort of concentration. The agent's eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed in a dead faint. His fellow agents quickly followed suit until out of all their enemies, only Dorn and Taark remained conscious.

"Let him go and surrender," Taark demanded – a demand that seemed ludicrous when she was unarmed. She was ignored as both Bobby and Ianto went to Joss's aid.

"He's not dead," Bobby stated simply as he peeled away the man's shirt to get a better look at the injury.

"What about Jack?" Maera asked tremulously. Ianto glanced briefly at Bobby before speaking flatly.

"He's dead. Maera, do you have any healing abilities?"

"No," she whispered. Her voice shook and tears spilled down her cheeks freely. She was barely holding it together, and it showed.

"Maera!" Ianto snapped. "Remember what Jack said. It'll be all right. Now, deal with those two so that we can get Jack and...?"

"Joss," Bobby confirmed. Ianto felt a jolt of recognition from Jack's stories, followed by a renewed desire to save the man's life. If they could just get Joss to the TARDIS, he might have a chance. He would not leave Jack behind, though, and he didn't think he and Bobby could manage both Jack and Joss.

A heavy thud dragged him out of his thoughts and he focused on the sight of Dorn, collapsed in a heap on the floor. Taark, however, had broken ranks and was running away down the corridor as fast as she could.

"Oh no, you don't," Maera snarled, but Bobby stayed her with a hand to her wrist.

"No, let her go. She thinks Jack is dead. That could work in our favour."

Maera looked down at Bobby in distress.

"He _is_ dead. That shakkra shot him in the head!"

"Yes, he did," Ianto agreed, "and he's going to be enormously pissed off when he comes back. Getting shot in the head always gives him a migraine."

Maera was silent as she digested Ianto's words, and a calmness descended over her, erasing the grief from her face.

"Which is it? Is it that he's only in a suspended state while his body heals, or is he truly dead and he's going to come back to life?"

"I suspect it's a little of both," Ianto answered. "And I just hope it's soon. We need to get Joss back to the TARDIS if he's going to have any chance."

"Wait," Maera said abruptly, looking very much as though she wanted to slap herself up-side the head. "Lu is a healer. Let me call him. He can help where I can't."

"Do it," Ianto told her. "We can't let him die. It would destroy Jack."

"He won't die," Maera promised. "He'll be fine. Lu will help him. And when my little brother comes back, I'm going to kill him for scaring the life out of me!"

Ianto had to smile, despite the stress of the situation.

"You really do love him, don't you?"

"We all do," Maera answered. "Jack won us all over simply by surviving what Darien did to him. He then won us over again by having the courage to see his pregnancy through. He is one of ours and we don't say that lightly. Never before has an outsider ever been freely offered a permanent home on Mendyr. The Council's offer to Jack will stand for as long as Mendyr exists. He will always have a home with us."

Ianto's throat tightened with emotion. He doubted that Maera, even with her psychic talents, was fully aware of the magnitude of the gift that the Mendyrians had given Jack; that throughout his long, unending life, there would always be a place for Jack to run to, where he would always be welcome.

That, Ianto reflected, was a truly great gift.

Footsteps could be heard approaching, and both Ianto and Bobby tensed in anticipation of it being Taark come back with reinforcements. If it was, both men knew that they would be reliant on Maera to defend them – and they had no doubts that she was more than capable.

"It's Krandl and Lu," Maera announced just moments before her fellow Mendyrians rounded the corner.

Lu went straight to Joss's side, examining him briefly before smiling.

"It isn't too late. He'll live. Krandl, Maera, be on guard. This may take a few minutes."

Without waiting for confirmation from them, Lu set his focus to saving Joss's life.

"He looks like he's praying," Bobby commented curiously as they watched the young man kneel by Joss's side.

"What is praying?" Krandl asked. "We don't know that word."

Ianto swallowed a chuckle at the look on Bobby's face. He could guess what was going through his colleague's mind, and he certainly didn't envy him being faced with trying to explain twenty-first century religious practises to an advanced race that apparently had no concept of organised religion.

"It's what we call it when a person talks to a deity," Bobby answered after a moment's consideration. Ianto was impressed. It was a simple and concise answer that didn't necessarily risk leading to other difficult questions. At least, he hoped that it wouldn't.

"Ah," Krandl said. "I think I understand."

Maera stepped over and looked down at Jack's face, now unblemished.

"How long?"

Ianto let his own gaze be drawn down to his partner's face, and allowed his fingers to brush against the pulse point in Jack's throat. His heart had only just started beating again and Ianto could almost picture in his mind the chain reaction that would follow, culminating with neurons firing in Jack's brain. It all happened within seconds, that was the wonder of the human body.

Sure enough, Jack came back to life in Ianto's arms with a wild gasp, flailing in momentary panic before it registered that he was in Ianto's protective embrace.

"Easy, love," Ianto murmured. "Just give yourself a moment."

Jack had no intention of taking a moment, though. The panic and fear evident on his face told them all that trying to calm him down was a pointless endeavour.

"Joss," Jack asked hoarsely. "Is he dead?"

With gentle but insistent hands, Ianto turned Jack's head so that his line of sight fell on Lu. The young Mendyrian offered Jack a reassuring smile.

"He will live, but we do need to get him back to the Doctor's ship. If need be, he can be placed in stasis until we return home."

"Can you stand?" Maera asked, eyeing Jack with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "It'd be better better if we only had to worry about carrying one person." She poked lightly at his stomach. "Especially since you're not exactly light-weight anymore."

Ianto barely held back a snigger at his lover's outraged expression, and a quick glance showed that Bobby, Krandl and Lu were all experiencing similar degrees of amusement.

"My weight is fine, thank you," Jack said snippily as he got awkwardly to his feet. "Let's just get back to the TARDIS. We still have a lot to do."

Krandl and Lu lifted Joss between them and they began to make their way back to the TARDIS. Bobby fell in step with Jack and Ianto while Maera brought up the rear.

"You okay, Bobby?" Jack asked, though his concern was diminished by his worry for Joss.

"I'm fine," Bobby answered dismissively. "But Alex... Please... She's not...?"

"She's fine," Ianto assured him quickly. He chose not to add that she'd been knifed. That was something for her to decide whether or not she wanted to share. As it was, both Ianto and Jack were warmed by the sheer relief on Bobby's face.

"Thank you," Bobby murmured in gratitude. Ianto smiled.

"According to Alex, it's Myfanwy we need to be thanking. Apparently our resident pteranadon saved her life."

"When we get home," Bobby declared, "I am buying her the most expensive chocolate I can find."

Ianto huffed in mock annoyance.

"Alex said much the same, and believe me, you'll both be cleaning up after her."

Bobby grinned, the weight of worry momentarily lifted from his shoulders.

"I can live with that."

* * *

They arrived back at the TARDIS to find Anna and the Doctor waiting in the doorway with matching looks of concern.

"Quickly," the Doctor encouraged them unnecessarily. "Take him to the med room. The TARDIS will guide you. She'll provide everything you need."

Lu nodded in acknowledgement.

"Thank you." He glanced back over his shoulder at Jack and offered a reassuring smile. "He'll be fine, I promise. Do what you have to do, and leave me to care for him."

Jack let them go, feeling quietly reassured that Joss would, indeed, be okay. Turning back to the group before him, he barely had time to process all the faces before Gwen literally slammed into him, wrapping her arms around him in a ferocious hold.

"I was so worried about you," she said in a muffled voice. Jack swallowed a sigh. Beyond the unconsciously possessive gesture, Gwen's concern was genuine and he would not disrespect that.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "I was more worried about all of you. Is anyone hurt?"

"Owen is," Tosh said, speaking over his protests. "He was electrocuted by those cell walls."

"Still can't keep your hands to yourself?" Jack asked with a grin. Owen glowered, unimpressed.

"Time and a place, Harkness, and this isn't it. Anyway, I'm fine. It was just a little tickle."

"Like hell it was," Tosh retorted with an uncharacteristic vehemence. "You were unconscious for nearly forty-five minutes!"

"Med room, Owen," Jack ordered. His tone was uncompromising, and Owen knew better than to argue. He went, all the while grumbling under his breath. Jack then turned his attention back to Gwen, and the magnificent bruise that was blossoming over one of her cheeks, and up towards her temple.

"Gwen...?"

The defiant look on her face was tiresomely familiar.

"I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt."

"You could have a concussion," Jack pointed out, making an obvious effort to keep his tone even. He'd learnt through bitter experience that being confrontational with Gwen achieved precious little. Her expression was hardening, though, and he could see what was going through her mind as clearly as if he had telepathy. She knew something else was planned, some other action, and she was determined not to be left out. Jack clenched his jaw and his fists. He'd allowed her to dictate to him in the past, but not this time. The stakes were far too high.

"Gwen, I want you to go the med room. Bobby and Toshiko, you two as well, and Donna. Once Lu has taken care of Joss, he'll check over each of you as well."

"I said I'm fine, Jack," Gwen argued. "I don't have a concussion. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to get me out of the way. What are you planning? Whatever it is, you're not leaving me out of it!"

Jack could feel the already bad headache he had getting worse. He loved Gwen, he really did, but she was like a pitbull. Once she got hold of something, she refused to let go.

He was still considering what to do or say when Bobby stepped up beside Gwen and bent over to speak into her ear.

"Gwen." She jumped, taken by surprise by her new colleague, but Bobby went on as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening. "You have two choices. You either come with us to the med bay willingly, or I will pick you up and carry you there. Which is it going to be?"

Gwen stared up at him, wide-eyed and incredulous, as though she couldn't quite believe he'd had the nerve to make such a threat – not only to her, but in front of so many people. Then the shock faded, and she realised with a sinking feeling that he was utterly and deadly serious.

Mutual respect aside, she realised that he fully intended to carry out his threat if she refused to comply with Jack's order. Worse still, Jack clearly had no intention of defending her.

She made a last ditch appeal to Jack, directing a well-practised pleading stare at the Captain, but his expression was set in stone.

"Go," Jack told her with finality in his tone that even Gwen dared not defy. Angry, but helpless to do anything about it, Gwen stormed out of the control room with Bobby, Tosh, Alex and Donna close behind.

"Well, isn't she colourful," Maera commented dryly.

"Her heart is in the right place," Jack said. "It's just that sometimes she just doesn't know when to back off." He stepped across the floor and flattened his palm against the coral strut. "Keep them all safe in the med room for me?" he asked softly. He sensed more than heard the ancient ship's acquiescence, and offered a silent thank you in return.

"Time for phase two, then?" Ianto asked. Unease flickered in Jack's eyes.

"We had a pretty close call earlier. Maybe... Maybe I ought to be doing this on my own."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he braced himself for the anticipated angry rebukes. To his surprise, though, none came. Instead, Ianto stepped into his personal space and gathered him close in a comforting hug.

"You said you wanted me with you when you did this. I'm still not entirely sure why, but you clearly have a reason for it. If you've changed your mind and you really don't want me to come, then I'll respect that. I won't like it, and the next cup of coffee you get will probably be decaf, but I won't argue you. It's your call."

Jack hugged Ianto back fiercely.

"I want you with me, but I want you safe, as well. Dinn is ruthless, but he's also incredibly seductive. I need someone there with me who can anchor me."

"Does Dinn have psychic abilities?" the Doctor wondered.

"Just one," Jack said grimly. "He's a strong coercer."

"It was him that stole your memories," the Doctor stated abruptly. "There was no machine, no drugs. Just him."

Jack nodded, looking shaken by the bitter recollection.

"Yes, it was him. He interrogated me about Eleya, and it took everything I had, every ounce of mental strength to resist him. I had nothing left to fight with when he wiped my memories."

"Let me come," Maera said suddenly. Her voice was soft, but ice cold. "I can help to protect you and Ianto from this shakkra's power. Let me help, please."

"It is true," Anna conceded. "Her mental shields are the greatest I've ever seen. She could easily protect both of you from an assault by Dinn."

For an instant, Jack felt guilty at banishing Gwen to the med room whilst he found himself seriously considering allowing Maera to join them. There was a hell of a difference between the two women, though.

Whilst very capable and incredibly compassionate, Gwen had an unfortunate tendency to act before (or without, in some instances) thinking. It was a trait that would possibly end up getting her killed.

Maera had, of course, changed since he'd seen her last, but his newly regained memories of her were of a fiery but level-headed woman. He knew she would not put others in danger purely because she didn't stop to think an action through, or even just think. Also, the thought of her safe-guarding Ianto's mind was extremely tempting.

"Okay," he agreed finally. "But you focus on shielding Ianto, not me."

"Jack, you'll be vulnerable," Anna warned him gently. "Your shields were never particularly strong."

Jack smiled bitterly.

"My mind has been off-limits to anyone with psychic talent since I died that first time on Satellite Five."

"That's not strictly true," the Doctor pointed out, only to be silenced by his companion's weary expression.

"Communication is possible, and that's all. Doctor, why do you think he resorted to isolating me on the Valiant? Because he tried every trick he knew, and nothing worked. He couldn't control me, and if a Time Lord couldn't then Dinn won't be able to, either."

He felt Ianto move slightly beside him, just enough to remind him he was there. Jack took much comfort in that closeness, finding Ianto's hand and holding it tightly.

"Whatever happens, Dinn won't be able to break my mind or take my memories again. So if you're coming, Maera, then your priority needs to be protecting yourself and Ianto."

"Deal," she agreed solemnly.

* * *

Early on, not long after they'd found Eleya, Alex had told him that he deserved closure. Bobby had intimated it too, when Gwen had argued with him about where his responsibilities lay. Ianto had also said much the same, that he had a right to expect closure. Jack had assumed he was finding that closure by recovering his missing memories and reconnecting with his daughter. He should have known better than to expect it to be that simple.

He led the way down the corridor at a rapid pace, moving on autopilot as his thoughts were consumed by memories and the anticipation of the coming confrontation. He remembered Argus Dinn vividly now – a very nondescript man who he now recalled had paid particularly close attention to him at the induction ceremony into the Time Agency.

Special, Dinn had called him with a shark-like grin, and it occurred to Jack now that it was no coincidence that he ended up with all the best instructors, and generally the best of everything. In retrospect, he had to admit it was that special treatment that had helped to cultivate his arrogance, which had in turn led to the recklessness that had eventually resulted in him being taken captive by Darien. In hindsight, Jack wondered whether Dinn had seen that particular future, and had actively worked to bring it to fruition.

If it turned out that was indeed the case, Jack was fairly sure that not even the Doctor's presence would keep him from killing the evil son of a bitch.

A hand on his arm drew him back to reality, and he found himself looking into Ianto's concerned face.

"Jack, this is no time to zone out. We need you to focus."

"Right. Sorry," Jack murmured, chastened. Ianto dared a quick, chaste kiss.

"It's all right. But we need you to show us the way to go. You're the only one who knows where to find Dinn."

Jack nodded, gathering up his courage.

"It's this way…"

"Wait," Maera interrupted softly. "Tell me, can any of you hear anything?"

They all had to concede no, and the Doctor quickly realised what she meant.

"These corridors ought to be crawling with security by now, but there's no one. Why is there no one around?"

"Especially since that woman saw you shot in the head," Maera pointed out, "and they must surely think you're dead, so why not have everyone out looking for the rest of us?"

"I don't know," Jack admitted, "and I don't like it."

"It feels like we're walking into a trap," Ianto said grimly.

"Jack?" Anna asked. "Do you want to return to the TARDIS? None of us will think less of you if you choose not to pursue this."

Jack bit down lightly on the inside of his cheek. It was tempting, so very tempting. They could turn around, head back to the TARDIS and leave the danger far behind them. He could forget all about Dinn and the Time Agency… until the next time Dorn and his ilk turned up, seeking to capture his daughter. Jack's stomach churned unpleasantly.

"If I don't see this through now, I'll always be looking over my shoulder for Time Agents, and so will Eleya."

"Then stay on Mendyr," Maera begged him. "Ianto would be welcome as well. Make your home there with us, like you once planned on doing. The Time Agency won't be able to reach you there, not again."

Jack's breath escaped him in a soft sigh.

"I can't describe how grateful I am to know I have a home on Mendyr, but my life is on Earth, at least for now. I can't abandon my responsibilities there. Besides that, if I walk away now and don't deal with this, then no one who's ever known me will be safe. These people went this far to get their hands on Eleya. They're not going to give up just because I've gone to ground. They'll go after anyone and everyone to try and force my hand, and I can't let that happen."

"Lead on, then, Captain," the Doctor said with respect in his voice and a hint of a smile on his face. "Let's shut this place down once and for all."

* * *

Jack led the way until they finally reached what appeared to be a dead-end, and Ianto said as much.

"Not exactly," Anna murmured as she approached the wall. "There is a door here… or at least some sort of doorway, but it has been carefully hidden away. It's not a perception filter, but rather a very skilful deception. Maera, come here. The rest of you, please stand out of the way."

The two women stood at the wall and flattened their palms against it, and concentrated. At first, nothing seemed to be happening. Then the floor, walls and ceiling began to tremble, lightly at first and then more violently until it seemed as though the corridor itself was about to collapse around them.

With a loud roar, the wall before them exploded inwards, swept away as though into a massive vacuum, leaving behind a gothic-looking archway that looked oddly out of place in the sterile, futuristic confines of the Time Agency headquarters. Beyond the archway, there was nothing visible but inky blackness.

"Well, that was dramatic," Ianto remarked dryly.

"And also very clever," Anna said. "This was a very carefully constructed illusion. We must be careful not to underestimate our adversary."

"Just remember what I said," Jack told them. "Okay… Last chance to opt out, folks."

No one moved or spoke. Jack smiled faintly through a combination of gratitude and trepidation.

"Okay, then. Let's do this."

And with that, he stepped through the archway and vanished into the blackness.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	28. An Unexpected Enemy

It turned out to be less than dramatic. Stepping through the archway was like stepping through a thin veil of water – mildly disconcerting, briefly disorienting but without the discomfort of getting wet.

Jack blinked hard to adjust his vision and stop it from blurring. He sensed rather than heard the others coming through behind him but by the time they did, his attention was already on the slight figure who had clearly been waiting for them.

"Oh, you can't be serious," Ianto hissed incredulously from somewhere behind Jack. "How many times is he going to keep turning up?"

"You know this man?" Anna asked and Jack couldn't help but laugh, albeit humourlessly.

"We're acquainted. This is Bilis Manger, the one who tricked my team into opening the rift and releasing Abaddon." Jack offered no further explanations, and instead turned his full focus onto Manger.

"So what's your real name? Are you Bilis Manger, or Argus Dinn?"

"I am both, and neither," Manger replied vaguely. "They are merely convenient identities that I have made my own, much in the same way that you took young Captain Harkness's identity for your own."

"I remember you looking a lot different," Jack said accusingly. Manger's head bobbed up and down.

"I daresay I did. After all, I could not allow you to see me in my other form when I sent you and Miss Sato back in time. It might have triggered your memories, and I couldn't take the risk that you might run again. I needed to know exactly where you were, Captain Harkness – something that you made quite difficult for me during your time on the run."

A bitter smile curled Jack's lips.

"Good. I'm glad to hear it."

"And now to business," Manger stated, sounding for all the world like they'd merely been exchanging pleasantries prior to a business deal. "Where is she, Captain?"

"You don't serious think I would have brought her anyway near this place?" Jack asked darkly. "You're crazier than I thought. She's nowhere near this place, Manger."

For the first time that Jack could ever recall, Manger looked angry. It only lasted a split second before the gentleman's façade fell back into place, but for just a moment Manger let through a glimpse of the rage he felt.

"No matter. I shall merely do as I did before, and enlist the help of the Shadow Proclamation. They really can be very obliging."

"Not this time," the Doctor countered heatedly. "I'll make sure of it myself."

Finally, Manger's gaze came to rest on the Doctor and an unpleasant smile lit up his face.

"The last Time Lord. This _is_ turning out to be an auspicious day. I am curious, though, as to what someone of your stature is doing, acquainting yourself with a second-rate cast-off like Jack here?"

The Doctor's expression turned cold.

"Taking Jack Harkness on board my ship turned out to be one of the best choices I've ever made. He is worth fighting for and your interference in his life is going to end right now."

Manger's smile never faltered.

"You do inspire loyalty in the most unlikely people, Jack. Take young Mr Jones, here. He is utterly loyal to you despite the fact that you executed his fiancée. Although, it only took one vision of her to convince him to betray you, didn't it?"

Beside him, Jack felt Ianto stiffen in anger at the callous reminders. He felt a twinge of fear that perhaps Manger was getting at Ianto, but when the younger man spoke his voice was confident and clear.

"Jack didn't kill Lisa. The Cybermen killed her. What I was trying to keep alive wasn't Lisa anymore. Two more people died before I realised it, but Jack forgave me for that. He forgave me for betraying him that second time, too. I owe him more than just my loyalty. I owe him my life."

Manger sneered at Ianto in disdain.

"Simpering little fool. Too blinded by love to realise that one day he will cost you your life. No matter, though. We're getting a little off-track. We were discussing your daughter, Jack, and your belief that she is safely away from here."

Jack's breath caught. He really did not like the way that came out. He said nothing, though, but waited for Manger to elaborate.

"Ah, I believe we have more visitors," Manger announced suddenly with chilling delight. "Commander Dorn, come right in, please."

Dorn emerged through the barrier along with Jaydn Taark. Ahead of them, being held at gunpoint, was Bobby and Eleya.

"What?" Jack hissed in shock. "How…?"

"She was hiding on board the TARDIS," Bobby explained grimly. "When she couldn't find you, she ran out. I tried to catch her but I wasn't quick enough, and we were ambushed by these clowns."

Jack felt ill as he took his daughter from Bobby's arms.

"What about the others?"

"The TARDIS shut the door on them," Bobby said, sounding as confused as he looked. "I would have been locked inside too, but I managed to get out just before the doors closed. It was almost like the TARDIS wanted Eleya to get out, and didn't want anyone to stop her."

"What's she playing at?" the Doctor growled, determining to have a serious word with his ship when it was all over. "Why didn't she tell me Eleya was on board?"

"I don't know," Jack said in a tight, angry tone, "but I'll have a few words to say to her when we get back."

"You won't be going anywhere, Captain," Manger cut in. All signs of humour were now gone from his skeletal features, and he was staring at Eleya with unmistakable hunger. "This is what is going to happen. You will hand the child over to Commander Dorn. If you refuse, you will be shot dead in front of her, and we will use whatever means necessary to subdue her."

Expecting immediate acquiescence, Dorn stepped in with a smug grin.

"I don't know how you pulled off that stunt with pretending to be dead, or even how you're _not_ dead, for that matter. I shot you in the damn head! No matter, though, I'm going to have fun getting the information out of you, boy."

He was reaching for Eleya when a fist came out of nowhere and drove him backwards.

"Keep your filthy hands off them," Ianto snarled at Dorn, and then immediately swung around to face Manger. "You can't have Jack and you can't have Eleya, and I will kill you before I let you get your hands on them."

Manger smirked in reply, but that smirk quickly turned into a frown.

"What's the matter?" the Doctor asked, sounding thoroughly amused. "Having a bit of trouble getting into our minds? Surely you ought to know the pointlessness of trying to access the minds of a Time Lord and two Mendyrians? As for Jack's mind, it's well protected by the vortex itself. Even a vortex creature like you can't break through unless Jack wants you to."

Jack smiled grimly.

"I always wondered why I never say anything when the rest of my team did. It's because you couldn't get into my mind to know what you could use to convince me to open the rift. You couldn't present me with a vision of Eleya, because you didn't want to risk triggering my memories, and you didn't know about the only other person that could have convinced me."

Manger glared at Jack in hatred.

"I underestimated you, Captain. I admit that. And perhaps I can't dispose of you permanently, but I'm sure I can find a way to incapacitate you for as long as I need."

"Give it up," Jack snapped, rapidly losing his patience. "This has gone on long enough."

"Quite right," Manger agreed. "Commander Dorn, kill them all."

In the split second between Manger's order and when Dorn and Taark opened fire, Jack spun to put himself between the guns and his daughter. He felt pressure on his body, the heat of lasers burning through his coat and scorching the flesh of his back, and he collapsed to the floor with Eleya held protectively beneath him.

He couldn't move, not even to try and see if anyone else was hurt. The laser fire had cut through his spine, leaving him temporarily paralysed. Even if no one else was injured, though, the random bursts of laser fire were clearly designed to keep everyone on the floor and stop them from coming to his and Eleya's aid.

"Dada?" Eleya whimpered, terror in her eyes.

As Jack tried to gather his strength to speak, he heard Manger's voice.

"Grab the girl, quickly."

A foot kicked him hard in the ribs, dragging a scream of pain from him as he forced over onto his back. Dorn grabbed Eleya, delivering a second rib-cracking kick to Jack's side as he did so.

"Give her to me, now!" Manger demanded, and Dorn handed her over.

"No!"

The cry came not from Jack, but from Ianto. Acutely aware that Manger could jump to any point in time and space, Ianto propelled himself to his feet and threw himself at Manger. He managed to lock his hands onto the evil man's shoulders just in time to be transported along with Manger and Eleya and, in the blink of an eye, all three were gone.

* * *

"Jack!" Bobby gasped hoarsely, crawling over to where Jack lay once the laser fire finally ceased.

"Can't move," Jack whispered. "Maera…?"

"They're still somewhere in these headquarters," Maera said softly. "I think Ianto interrupted his jump when he grabbed Manger."

"Don't worry, Jack," the Doctor assured him. "We'll find them."

"But Ianto," Jack protested. "He won't be able to defend himself against Manger."

The Doctor looked up at Maera and Anna anxiously as he realised Jack was right.

"Can you track them?"

"I can," Maera confirmed. She glanced warily at Dorn and Taark, who both seemed to have relaxed now that their boss had finally acquired his target, and they believed they'd effectively crippled their prime adversary. It seemed that they had a moment's respite. "But it's not entirely true that Ianto is undefended."

"Eleya?" Bobby asked in confusion. "But she's just a little girl."

"Don't underestimate her," Anna warned. "She used Jack as a conduit and destroyed Darien whilst still in the womb, when he threatened Jack and, by default, her. I believe she is more than capable of dealing with this Bilis Manger, given the opportunity. The incentive is certainly there."

"I don't want my daughter growing up thinking of herself as a killer," Jack whispered. "That's what Manger wants for her."

"Not a killer, Jack," Maera told him. "A protector. Ianto went with them, and she loves her Tad as much as her Dada. She'll protect him. You'll see."

"All right, enough," Dorn snapped where he stood, still holding his gun on them with Taark at his side. "The Director will be long gone with the brat by now, and your precious lover will be dead, I guarantee it. Then when he comes back, he'll have completely indoctrinated her to be greatest weapon this agency has ever had!"

Jack looked up at Dorn, caught between amusement and incredulity. He didn't want Dorn to notice that he was already starting to get feeling and movement back, so as to give themselves the best advantage possible.

He could feel Anna's hands pressing lightly on the back of his neck, under the guise of supporting his head. She was not technically a healer but she did possess some minor healing abilities, and Jack could feel her feeding that slim ability into his body. It fuelled the vortex power within him, speeding up his body's rate of healing exponentially.

"You really think he'll be coming back? You're an idiot, Dorn. The Agency is just a means to an end for him. He's got what he wanted all along, and he won't be coming back."

"You're in no position to talk," Dorn said with a sneer. "Look at you, crippled, pathetic and useless. Can't even sit up, let alone stand and face me. You're all our prisoners, too, in case you'd forgotten."

"Aren't you sick of him yet?" Maera asked wearily. Anna smiled and looked down at Jack.

"Well?"

Jack wriggled his toes experimentally inside his boots, and was pleased to find he could do so freely and painlessly. He grinned up at Anna.

"I'm good."

With that, he pushed himself up and quickly scrambled to his feet. The twin looks of utter shock on Dorn and Taark's faces were well worth it, too.

"Impossible!" Taark burst out, bordering on hysteria. "He got you dead centre in the back! I saw it with my own eyes! You shouldn't be standing!"

"I guess I'm still an impossible thing," Jack said, exchanging a brief grin with the Doctor.

"How?" Dorn demanded.

"Not your concern. All you need to know is that you can't stop me, and every time you try I'm going to just keep coming back. No matter what you do, you can't stop me."

With a howl of frustrated rage, Dorn lifted his gun, but he never had a chance to pull the trigger. The gun was ripped out of his hand by an invisible force, as was Taark's, and both landed safely in Maera's waiting hands.

"You don't get a free shot," she said. "Not again."

"What are you going to do?" Dorn asked. "Kill us?"

"No," Anna replied, "but I don't believe we can simply let you go, either."

"We're shutting the agency down," Jack said firmly. "Everyone and everything to do with this place is done. What you're going to do for us right now is summon every agent back to headquarters immediately. We'll be waiting here for them, and we're going to take every vortex manipulator in the place. Then, we'll completely evacuate the whole place and once we've found my daughter and my partner, we're going to blow this whole facility to hell."

The expression on Dorn's face see-sawed between disbelief and fury.

"You… You bastard! You'll cripple the agency!"

"I don't want to cripple it," Jack said flatly. "I want to obliterate it. When we're done here, the only thing left will be a memory."

"I'll hunt you down for this, you fucking bastard," Dorn snarled. "I swear, you'll always be looking over your shoulder!"

Jack glanced at Anna, who answered with a slight nod. When he spoke again, there was no joy in his voice – only weariness borne of the realisation that it was nearly over.

"Dorn, you aren't even going to remember that I was here. Maera, have you located Ianto and Eleya?"

"Four levels down," she answered. Jack swore softly.

"He's headed for the docks. If he gets Eleya onto a transport, we'll have a hell of a time tracking them."

"Go on," Bobby told him. "I can keep an eye on these two."

"And we will stay as well," Anna decided, looking pointedly at the Doctor. "We will ensure Commander Dorn does as we need him to do, and then make our way to the appropriate place to intercept the incoming agents. The two of you go, quickly. Save your family, Jack."

Jack bolted, with Maera right behind him.

* * *

"Why?" the Doctor asked tersely, even as they directed Dorn over to the control table. "I should have gone with them, to help."

Anna smiled.

"Your concern for Jack is appreciated, Doctor, but trust me. Jack and Maera are more than capable between them. Trust me, they'll be fine. I suggest we concern ourselves with the task at hand, and let them do what they must."

The Doctor stared at Anna with interest.

"You have a lot of faith in Jack."

Her expression was inscrutable.

"After everything Jack has endured for you, I should think that you would, as well." Her gaze went to Bobby, and she smiled softly. "After all, if one who has known him for so short a time can have such strong faith and trust in Jack, then you have no excuse, Time Lord."

Chastened, the Doctor said nothing more.

* * *

Ianto was disoriented, to say the absolute least. He lay on a hard surface, his head spinning and his vision hopelessly blurred. His muscles felt like jelly and right then he didn't seem to be able to exercise any control at all over his own body. It was a most disconcerting experience, even more so because he couldn't for the life of him remember how he'd gotten into this state to begin with.

"Ianto? Can you hear me, Ianto?"

The voice was painfully familiar.

"Lisa…"

Slowly, her face swam into focus in front of him. Ianto groaned in pain and distress. Part of him knew she was only a hallucination but she looked so real, and it was only too easy to disregard logic.

"Ianto, you're in danger," she told him in that tone she'd always been able to use to keep him wrapped around her little finger. "I know it's hard, but you gave to get up and run. Run away and save yourself. Please, Ianto, for me?"

It seemed to Ianto like the most reasonable thing in the world, and yet he hesitated. Even as he got unsteadily to his feet, he hesitated. His gaze went past Lisa to the shrouded figures beyond but when he tried to focus on them, Lisa blocked his line of sight and brought his attention back to her.

"Did you hear what I said?" she asked, sounding agitated now. "You have to run, Ianto. You have to save yourself! Listen to me, please!"

And still he hesitated. He vividly remembered the love he'd once felt for her, and how that love had led him to commit unspeakable betrayals out of a misguided but unswerving trust. But it was only a memory, and he had long been loyal to Jack above and beyond anything he'd felt for Lisa.

There was a reason, scratching at the very edge of his mind, as to why he wasn't just turning tail and running to save himself. If only he could clear the fog surrounding his mind, and remember what that reason was.

He heard a new sound, beyond Lisa's pleading. It was the sound of a child weeping, distraught. Ianto shut his eyes. That sound struck a chord with him, though he couldn't immediately remember why. He breathed deeply and tried to focus.

Lisa was dead. He knew that, and therefore her presence in front of him wasn't real. It was a trick, just like the last time. His breath caught. Manger…

Ianto's eyes snapped open. Lisa was gone, and now his line of sight was Bilis Manger, easily holding Eleya despite her struggles. The little girl was crying, pleading for her Tad to save her. Manger regarded Ianto hatefully, but also with arrogance.

"You're stronger than I anticipated, Mr Jones, but no matter. You can't actually stop me, despite your best delusions."

Ianto's gaze fell on Eleya. She was staring back with a wide-eyed, pleading stare that broke his heart.

"You may be right."

Without warning, he lunged at Manger in an unexpected assault that clearly took the other man by surprise. Ianto collided with them, grabbing Eleya and wrenching her from Manger's possessive grasp. They hit the floor and rolled, with Ianto doing his best to shield the child.

Behind them, Manger uttered an inhuman howl of fury, and Ianto's stomach clenched in fear as he caught a glimpse of a long-bladed knife. In a panic, he did the only thing he could think of and curled his body protectively around Eleya.

A cry of pain left his lips as Manger unleashed a volley of frenzied slashes across his back, and Ianto knew then that the attack would not ceased until he was dead. Judging by the depth of some of the stab wounds and the rapidly encroaching weakness in his body, it wouldn't be all that long, either.

"Tad."

Ianto's gaze was drawn down once more to meet Eleya's, and he tried futilely to prepare to say goodbye to her. Tears fell from his eyes despite his best efforts to show her strength. It wouldn't be long now. He could feel himself weakening by the moment, and it was getting hard to breathe. He could almost hear a gurgling rattle in his own throat, and tasted blood in his mouth. Manger's frenzied assault had pierced a lung, and he guessed it was filling rapidly with blood. If he didn't bleed out first, he was going to drown in his own blood.

Eleya's little hands came up to touch his chest, one flattened against each side, and her green eyes suddenly flared bright.

"Ouch go 'way."

Ianto's body went rigid as power flooded through him. Somewhere in the back of his mind it registered that Manger's assault had stopped, but his focus was now exclusively on the little girl cocooned beneath his body; not on the evil troll of a man behind them.

The pain of his wounds didn't subside, it vanished in the blink of an eye. Renewed strength raced through him and he felt an amazing rush of energy as his mind reacted to the child's power, and opened up to her. And suddenly, he felt Eleya inside his mind – not infiltrating in the way that Manger had done, but joining with him to combine their strength, and to boost her own power enormously.

Ianto knew without needing to look that right then, his own normally blue eyes mirrored Eleya's brilliant green ones.

Feeling a sense of calm descend over him, Ianto got up off the floor and at the same time lifted Eleya easily into his arms. Together, they turned to face Manger.

"Give her to me," Manger hissed, but now Ianto could hear the first real twinges of fear in the other's voice. Hell, he could practically taste it. Manger was fully aware of the power on display, and it frightened him.

Ianto said nothing; he realised quickly that this was now Eleya's show. She was routing her power through him and using him like an amplifier, and Ianto quickly realised that he had no desire to try and stop her.

"Bad man," Eleya said simply.

Ianto stared at Manger as he felt the child's power wash through him, expecting the man to simply drop dead – much like the man at Pendefig Mall. To say he was surprised that it didn't happen was an understatement. For a moment, Ianto wondered whether Manger was far stronger than even Jack had realised, or if perhaps the bulk of Eleya's power had been used in healing him.

As he looked, though, he finally registered the panic and horror on Manger's face, and he realised what Eleya had done. The Doctor had called Manger a vortex creature. Eleya, demonstrating her phenomenal power, had just severed Manger's connection to the vortex, leaving him powerless and helpless.

No, Ianto corrected himself immediately as he took in the bloodied knife still clutched in Manger's hand. Not helpless, and still very dangerous, but he could no longer flee by vanishing via the vortex.

Eleya huffed softly and rested her head on Ianto's shoulder.

"Bad man go 'way."

Manger's beady eyes widened fractionally and he gasped as the very breath in his lungs froze. As he collapsed to his knees, one hand clutching at his chest whilst the other scrabbled at his throat, Ianto's awareness went elsewhere. His consciousness locked onto the mainframe of the Agency control computer and he could feel Eleya working through him, utilising his knowledge of computers to shut the Agency system down for good.

Databanks were wiped clean en masse, and the Agency's time travel knowledge was erased so effectively that it would be impossible for anyone to ever again use it on a large scale. The headquarters' life support systems were tripped and locked, ensuring that within a matter of hours the place would be uninhabitable by any life form. Finally, a countdown was triggered, giving only a limited amount of time before the headquarters imploded.

Ianto was left breathless by the rush of power, but even more so by the control. Control, he realised, that was there because Eleya was using him. Without him, it would have been chaotic, uncontrolled. It would have been devastating. Young as she was, Eleya clearly knew enough of her own power to know that she needed an older, more mature mind to keep her power in check.

Somehow, he doubted this would have been possible, had he not opened his heart and become as close to the little girl as he had.

Gradually, he became aware of the exquisite tension bleeding slowly out of his body, and the power that had been energising him winding down. As he came back to himself, he became conscious of a pair of strong, achingly familiar arms that encircled both him and Eleya. A voice whispered in his ear, begging him to wake up, pleading with him to come back.

So much different, and vastly more reassuring than the earlier apparition of Lisa, Ianto uttered a choked sob as Jack's face swan into focus.

"Jack…"

"Dada!" Eleya cried out at the same time, and all of a sudden it became a massive three-way hug.

"Thank you," Jack whispered. He kissed Ianto ferociously, and then kissed his daughter's forehead.

"We're okay," Ianto said. He sounded incredulous to his own ears, as though he didn't really believe it. His gaze went to the little girl in his arms and he smiled wearily.

"You saved us both."

No question, it was just a simple statement of fact. He didn't know whether she understood the actual words, but she certainly seemed to understand the sentiment. Her thin arms wrapped around his neck and she hugged him ferociously.

"My Tad."

Ianto no longer had it in him to argue, and he hugged her back equally fiercely.

"If you really want me to be," he murmured.

"We do," Jack confirmed.

Ianto shut his eyes, taking a rare but deserved moment of pleasure in Jack's quiet affirmation. It was short-lived, though, as a wailing alarm shattered the quiet.

"That's the alert for evacuation," Jack said, quickly checking the readings on his manipulator. "The life support systems have been compromised. They're going into shut-down, and a code orange cleansing has been initiated."

"Code orange cleansing?" Maera asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"In just over two hour's time," Jack explained, "this place is going to be reduced to space dust."

"Ah, I think that might have been us," Ianto spoke up, indicating himself and Eleya. Jack grinned.

"Perfect. We can intercept all agents and staff at the evac ports, and strip them of their manipulators. We'll scramble the pod coordinates and scatter them across the galaxy. Then, when this place has been emptied out, we can go in to orbit in the TARDIS, and watch from safety while it's blown to bits." He turned to look pointedly at Manger. "The Time Agency is finished and so are you. We're going to put you in a pod, and send you to the most remote corner of the galaxy that we can think of."

Manger glared at Jack.

"Do you really think you can stop me?"

"Oh, please, enough with the clichés," Jack snorted. "If you could have escaped by now without needing a pod to do it, you would have. I'm guessing that my little girl has blocked your powers, somehow."

"She cut his connection to the vortex," Ianto said. "Severed it completely."

Jack nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. You're coming with us, Manger. We're going to head to the evac dock, re-group with the others and you're going to be put on a transport to some remote colony with minimal technology, where you can't do anymore harm."

The hatred on Manger's face was palpable, and later on when he'd had a chance to reflect on events, Ianto realised that both Jack and Maera were prepared for one last ditch attempt by Manger. The knife in Manger's hand was suddenly flying towards them, thrown with deadly accuracy straight at Eleya. Jack was already there to shield both her and Ianto, though, even as Ianto tried to twist around in order to once more put himself between blade and child.

As it turned out, neither of them needed to worry. The knife never completed the distance, slowing to a halt in mid-throw and simply hovering a good five or six feet from Jack.

"Seriously, a knife?" Maera retorted. "That's what you resort to? You sad little man." She looked across at Jack, her expression suddenly serious. "Take your family and go, brother. I'll catch up."

Suspicion and concern clouded Jack's face.

"Maera, you can't. You'll never be accepted onto the Elder Council if you kill him."

She smiled somewhat wistfully.

"To protect you, Eleya and Ianto, I think it's worth the sacrifice. He's never going to stop, Jack. You know it as well as I do. Let me deal with him once and for all."

When Jack hesitated, Maera directed her attention to Ianto.

"Get him and Eleya out of here, Ianto. Let me deal with Manger. It'll be all right, I promise."

Ianto made a snap decision. He grabbed Jack by the arm and bundled him away, around the corner.

"Ianto..." Jack protested, but Ianto was having none of it.

"I trust her not to make this worse for you, cariad. Let her do what she has to do. Now, c'mon. Let's get back. We only have a couple of hours to clear this place, and get out ourselves."

Reluctantly, but also with resignation, Jack conceded.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	29. A Satisfying Conclusion

**A/N:** _As near as I can tell, this is the pentultimate chapter. It's also extremely long, because I figure I've kept everyone waiting long enough and I didn't want to finish it on a cliff-hanger._

**Warning:** _There are scenes in this chapter that some may interpret as 'Gwen-bashing'. I personally do not. I consider what I've written to be Real!Gwen - insecure, somewhat selfish and unintentionally manipulative. However, she also has redeeming features, and I think I've positively resolved the 'Gwen is jealous of Jack, Ianto and Eleya' plot device. If you strenuously object to Gwen being portrayed in anything other than a saintly light, you might want to skip ahead whenever you see her name mentioned._

* * *

They met back up with Anna, the Doctor and Bobby at the entrance to the docking bays. Far from the chaos they'd envisaged, all the agents and staff had been lined up in an orderly fashion, and were being dealt with one at a time. They'd been joined by the rest of the Torchwood team and the Mendyrians. Jack's team was busy keeping the line in check, while the Doctor removed all vortex manipulators and any other piece of tech he deemed unsuitable. He was tag-teamed by the Mendyrians who were going from person to person and touching the foreheads and temples of each person, leaving behind confused and dazed men and women.

"What are they doing?" Ianto wondered.

"Altering memories," Jack answered, "and in a far more effective way than we could ever do with retcon. There are no drugs involved, so there's less chance of breaking through and remembering."

"It's just a slight alteration," Anna said as she joined them. "Instead of us, they'll remember an asteroid strike that took out their systems, and destroyed Time Agency headquarters. Fortunately, no lives were lost, but the Agency is beyond anyone's capabilities to rebuild. And strangely, not a single agent here remembered to take their vortex manipulators with them in the panic of evacuation."

"And this is all of them?" Ianto asked, eyeing the line questioningly. "There are only a couple of hundred people here."

"The Time Agency was never particularly big," Jack answered. "There was never more than fifty agents at any given time in the Agency's whole history. It was an elite group, nearly impossible to get into. But in answer to your question, no. This isn't all of them. There are maybe half a dozen agents missing, and we have to let them go."

Slowly, realisation dawned on Ianto.

"Would one of them happen to be John Hart, by any chance?"

Jack chuckled mirthlessly.

"Yep. And now I know why he looked so surprised that I didn't know that the Time Agency had been disbanded. He had to have known it was us. It was probably just a surprise to him that he'd caught me at a stage in my timeline before all of this happened."

"You could end up with a migraine, trying to work it all out," Ianto said ruefully.

"Jack?" the Doctor asked as he joined them. "Where's Maera?"

"She's coming," Anna said before either Jack or Ianto could answer. "She just needed to deal with Manger."

The Doctor's expression darkened but before he could utter any sort of a protest, Maera appeared.

"Oh my god, is that who I think it is?" Gwen asked as she joined them. Jack glanced at her warily, but kept quiet. His attention went back to Maera, who was leading a long a very docile and blank-faced Bilis Manger.

"I wiped his mind," she said bluntly. "Eleya severed his connection to the vortex, and I wiped his mind clean. He'll never be a threat to anyone ever again."

"Or capable of doing much else other than drooling," Owen said dryly as the rest of the team joined them. "The bloke's a walking vegetable. What are we supposed to do with him?"

"He will return with us to Mendyr," Anna decided. "We'll take responsibility for him. Also, it means we can keep watch for any signs that he might be recovering from the mind wipe."

The Doctor nodded his approval, despite suspecting that his approval meant precious little to the Mendyrians.

"Fair enough." He looked around and confirmed for himself that everyone else had been dealt with, Dorn and Taark included. They were the only ones left. "I think it's time to go. Everyone? Back to the TARDIS."

* * *

"So what happens now?" Gwen pressed once they were all back inside the TARDIS, safe from harm, and Manger had been taken away to the medical room.

"Now," the Doctor said as he initialised dematerialisation, "we go into orbit and wait for the big bang. Then we'll head back to Mendyr."

"Some recuperation time there will be a good thing," Jack said, looking to Anna for approval. She smiled.

"All are welcome. You may stay as long as you wish. Given that you all arrived from a different time, that should not be a problem."

The Doctor looked over at Jack.

"You don't need to wait for the explosion, Jack. Let your people witness it for you. Go and check on your friend, and take some time with Ianto and Eleya."

Jack didn't argue. Now that the adrenalin was finally wearing off, his thoughts turned to Joss. Wordlessly, he ushered his lover and his child out of the control room.

"He has some difficult choices ahead of him," Anna remarked with a touch of melancholy once they were gone.

"You mean whether he goes back to Earth, or stays on Mendyr," Bobby guessed.

"Yes," Anna confirmed. "And if he does return to Earth, then what of Eleya? Does he keep her with him, or leave her behind on Mendyr?"

"Eleya is powerful," Maera said. "She needs someone to teach her how to control her gifts. Jack can't do that for her. Not in the way that she needs."

"You think he should stay on Mendyr," Gwen spoke up, sounding a touch defensive. She said nothing beyond that, though, even though it was obvious to all that she wanted to.

"We wish that he would stay," Anna agreed. "We know that he won't. The choices he must make centre on his daughter, and whether he will remain on Mendyr long enough for Eleya to receive some much-needed tuition, or whether he can bring himself to leave her with us; at least until she is trained."

"He could stay on Mendyr as long as he needs to," Bobby said, sounding as though he couldn't understand why there was even a need for discussion. "Like you said, this is in a different time, and the Doctor has a time machine. He could bring them back to Earth, and hardly any time need had passed."

"A worthy consideration," Anna said. "Jack has chosen his people well. Still, this discussion is moot, as ultimately the choice is Jack's to make."

"He won't leave us," Gwen said abruptly, clearly doing her best not to sound petulant. "He can't. We need him."

"Gwen, we don't own him," Tosh pointed out, speaking up for the first time. "He's free to make his own choices, and that little girl should take precedence over us."

"Face it, Gwen," Owen added. "The only ones who have the right to influence Jack are Ianto and Eleya. And so help me, if you ask why Ianto, I swear to God I'm going to retcon you myself as soon as we get home."

"All right, enough with the domestics," the Doctor said. "Eyes to the monitor, she's about to go critical."

Quickly, they crowded around the monitor, which was showing the Time Agency satellite headquarters. Seconds ticked by before the explosions started – a series of minor ones to begin with, followed by a single, monster explosion that ripped the satellite apart and sent a shudder through the TARDIS as the shockwave passed by.

When it was over, only space debris remained. The Time Agency headquarters were no more.

"It's over," Maera said softly, with relief in her voice. "They're safe, finally."

"And no lives lost," the Doctor added in a satisfied tone. "All in all, a job well done."

"One life lost," Alex corrected, her thoughts going to the Time Agent who lay dead in the Hub. The Doctor conceded with a nod.

"Yes, but not at our hands, and only in defence. Myfanwy was protecting you, Alex. Curious, really. Never imagined dinosaurs had that capability to express that sort of loyalty..."

"Doctor, how long before we get to Mendyr?" Donna cut in before he had a chance to start rambling.

"We'll be there in a couple of hours," he answered. "No need to rush anymore, and the old girl isn't exactly up to any fast flying for a while."

"Right," Donna said decisively. "I don't know about anyone else, but I'm bloody starving. Anyone else who fancies something to eat, the kitchen is this way."

She marched from the control room, confident that anyone who wanted to would follow.

"Food would be good," Alex admitted. "I don't remember when we last ate."

"C'mon," Bobby said with a chuckle. "Let's catch her up. Anyone else coming?"

They all filtered out of the control room, until only Anna and the Doctor were left.

"Not hungry, milady?" he wondered. Anna looked at him with a reproving frown, but there was a fresh sparkle in her eyes to suggest that she wasn't annoyed as she made out to be.

"You've been taking lessons in flirting from Jack."

He grinned widely, and made no attempt to deny to accusation.

"Are you happy with this outcome, Lady Anna?" he asked and her smile faded minutely

"I'm satisfied with our involvement. We took no lives, and at the same time we've succeeded in ending a growing menace. I admit, though, that it disheartens me to know that Jack will leave Mendyr again. My only comfort is knowing that this time it will be by his own choice."

"I'd be glad to bring him back whenever he likes," the Doctor reminded her lightly. "Time machine, remember?"

"Doctor. May I remind you that your life is finite?"

"So is his, and I think you knew that already," the Doctor interrupted her. "I can't say much, but Jack's life is permanently interwoven with mine, and I will be there on the day he dies for good. I'm just sorry that I can't give him the comfort of that knowledge."

Anna sighed in exasperation.

"Time Lords and their precious time lines. You really were an incredibly frustrating lot."

The Doctor smiled sadly.

"I know. Figured I'd better carry on the tradition."

She laid a hand gently on his shoulder.

"You do your people proud, Doctor. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

Just briefly, the Doctor was at a loss for words. Then, his smile warmed just a little.

"As do you, Lady Anna."

* * *

Jack didn't try to hide his relief when they walked into the med room to find Joss was awake and half-sitting up in bed. He hurried over, while Ianto maintained a respectable distance with Eleya.

"Hey," Jack said as he sat down carefully on the edge of the bed. Joss grinned up at him.

"I hear you put an end to the Agency for good. Well done, my friend."

"Couldn't have done it without your help," Jack said. "And thank you, by the way, for keeping Eleya safe for as long as you did."

"Where is she?" Joss asked. "Can I see her?"

"Ianto," Jack called out, "come over here."

Ianto approached, and Eleya uttered a joyful exclamation when she finally saw who it was in the bed.

"Unna!"

Ianto let her down carefully, and he and Jack watched with identical smiles as man and child reunited with a prolonged and enthusiastic hug.

"Look at you, beautiful girl," Joss said with a grin. "Safe with your dada at last."

"My dada," Eleya stated proudly, smiling up at Jack and Ianto in adoration. "My tad. My unna."

"Joss, this is Ianto Jones," Jack said by way of introduction. "My partner."

Joss reached up to shake Ianto's hand with a grin.

"Good to meet you, Ianto. About time this boy found someone for himself. Looks like you have Eleya's seal of approval, too."

"She's a gorgeous little girl, and I love her," Ianto confessed. "I love them both."

"And we love him," Jack confirmed.

"Good," Joss murmured. "That's good. At least something positive has come out of all this mess. Jack, I'm sorry I let them take you. That day, when you asked me to take Eleya, I should have known what was going on."

"Everything happened the way it was supposed to," Jack assured him. "Anyway, it's over now. The Time Agency is finished. There are only half a dozen agents still out there."

"Your ex-partner being one of them?" Joss queries, and Jack's eyebrows shot up.

"How did you know?"

"He went back to try and rescue you, Jack, after the Agency recaptured you. He blew it, and they tried wiping his memories..."

"That's what they did to me," Jack interrupted. "I only broke it because I left a specific trigger for myself."

"I figured it had to be something like that, to keep you from coming to find Li-Li. I didn't want to even contemplate the other possibility."

"You say they _tried_ wiping John's memories?" Ianto pressed, his curiosity piqued to hear about this less self-serving side of John Hart. Joss glanced quizzically at Jack.

"John...?"

"It's the name he's going by now," Jack explained.

"Ah. Well as I said, they tried, but it seriously messed up his head. My informant told me he just went berserk, and in the end they let him go. You know he always had sociopathic tendencies, Jack? Well, they weren't just tendencies after that little brain-washing incident. He killed people indiscriminately, to the point where he was actually forced into murder rehab."

"I wondered about that," Jack murmured. Joss's eyebrows shot up.

"You've seen him?"

"In a manner of speaking. He turned up on Earth, and nearly killed one of my team. Actually, he nearly killed all of my team over an Arcadian diamond that didn't actually exist. He seemed a little surprised that I didn't know the Agency had been shut down, though."

Joss grunted.

"So he either thought he'd found a version of you post this little... event, or his head was just so messed up that he didn't remember any of it."

"He never even hinted about Eleya," Jack said.

"But he said something as he was leaving," Ianto spoke up, trying and failing to sound completely innocent. "He said he'd found Gray."

Joss's face remained blank, but Jack stiffened noticeably.

"I'll talk to you later about that," he said in an audibly strained voice. Feeling guilty for the obvious ploy, Ianto grasped Jack's hand and squeezed gently.

"Only if you want to, cariad."

He guessed that he must have sounded sincere, because he felt Jack relax again beside him.

"So the Time Agency was also responsible for Hart," Ianto murmured, deliberately shifting the topic of conversation.

"They were responsible for pushing him over the edge," Joss clarified. "He already was a crazy bas... I mean, bloke, but he at least had some degree of control and he cared more than himself. It's a sad waste."

"Well," Ianto said, "maybe if he turns up again, we can try to do a bit more to help him."

When Jack shot Ianto an incredulous look, Ianto shrugged.

"He tried to save you and Eleya. That has to count for something."

Joss smiled wearily as he passed Eleya back to Jack, and settled down in the bed. He was quickly running out of steam, and it showed.

"So what now?" he asked.

"We're heading for Mendyr," Jack said. "We'll all get the chance to rest, and those of us who have decisions to make will get to make them without pressure."

"Sounds good," Joss murmured. His eyes were flickering shut, even as he spoke. "Don't have anywhere to go anyway..."

"He's out," Jack said unnecessarily as Joss slipped into a light slumber. "I think I'll need to talk to Anna about him. He really doesn't have anywhere to go now."

"So why don't we invite him to come back to Earth with us?" Ianto wondered. "We can check with the Doctor about time lines, and if there aren't any problems, we can put it to Joss. Maybe we could go back to New York with Bobby and Alex, and work with them there in Torchwood Five."

"That's a pretty good idea," Jack enthused.

"Well, his expertise would be invaluable," Ianto mused, "and I got the impression that Bobby likes him."

"We'll run it by Bobby and Alex," Jack decided. "If they agree, then we'll talk to the Doctor. Hopefully it'll work out. I owe Joss a lot. He put everything on the line to help me and Eleya."

"If he doesn't want to come to Earth, then we'll make sure he's comfortably set up, wherever he decides to go."

Jack nodded.

"C'mon, let's find a quiet spot. We have things to talk about... and I have a couple of things to confess."

"That sounds ominous," Ianto teased lightly, but Jack couldn't bring himself to smile.

"What if I told you Eleya wasn't my only child? What if I told you that I had a daughter back on Earth who is nearly twice your age? What if I told you that I have a grandson?"

The confession was met with silence, and Jack felt his stomach knotting up with worry. When he finally gathered his courage to look up at Ianto, though, he was relieved to see not anger or disappointment, but rather thoughtful understanding.

"Honestly? I'm not altogether surprised. Look at how long you've been alive, Jack. It probably would have been more surprising if you hadn't had any other children." He took Jack's hand in his own, and squeezed it reassuringly. "Let's go find that quiet space and talk, okay?"

* * *

"So Eleya has a sister," Ianto mused. "An older sister who is actually younger than her in your time line, but was also born how many hundreds of years before her...?"

Jack grimaced.

"Please don't. You'll give me a headache."

Ianto laughed softly, and felt his nerves lessen their grip on him. When Jack had told him about his daughter and grandson, he had to admit to experiencing a spark of anger. As he thought it over, though, the anger had faded quickly. When Jack told him about his unwilling separation from them, his emotions turned to sympathy. Jack's pain was obvious, and Ianto had no desire to make it worse for him.

They lay together now on Jack's bed, watching idly while Eleya played on the floor with some toys that had been supplied by the TARDIS. She was perfectly content as long as she had her dada and her tad in sight.

"So," Jack said, "are you going to tell me how come your jacket was ripped to shreds?"

Ianto cursed silently. He'd hoped to avoid letting Jack see the damage, but he supposed have known better. Jack was much more observant than most people gave him credit for being. With that thought in mind, he decided to be honest, and hope it didn't give Jack a coronary.

"Manger attacked us with that knife of his, and I shielded Eleya with my own body..."

He grunted as Jack flipped him over onto his stomach, and yanked his shirt up to examine the now unblemished flesh.

"Jack, I'm fine," Ianto gasped. "Cariad, please! Eleya's going to think we're you know what..."

"She's seen a lot worse that her dad and her tad showing how much they love each other," Jack said distractedly as he ran his fingers up and down Ianto's back. "Anyway, I just needed to see..." He let his breath out in a relieved rush. "You're okay."

It was said with an astonishment that had Ianto rolling his eyes fondly.

"I said I was." He turned over and looked up at Jack.

"How?"

Ianto glanced surreptitiously at Eleya, who appeared oblivious to the goings on between her parents.

"She saved my life, Jack," Ianto said softly. "I think I was dying, and she healed me. Remember when she healed your headache? She just put her hands on me and said 'ouch go away'. Then she linked her mind to mine, and she used me to control her power. I think that somehow, she knew she couldn't control what she could do, so she used me as a controlling influence. She's an incredible little girl, Jack. She knew you didn't want her to kill anyone, and she did what she had to so that didn't happen."

Jack settled back down with Ianto, watching Eleya with love and awe. He remembered Darien's words to him and smiled. She was not Darien's daughter – she was his. His and Ianto's.

"Think you could cope with being her tad full-time?" Jack wondered.

"I'm ready to try," Ianto answered without hesitation. Silence fell for a while, and Ianto was in danger of nodding off when Jack whispered brokenly to him.

"I love you so much, Ianto Jones."

Ianto met Jack's gaze with a soft smile.

"Daft sod. I love you, too. Jack..."

"Mm?"

"Would you panic and run a mile if I said I'd like to make this official?"

Jack's hands, which had been roaming lazily across Ianto's chest, suddenly stilled.

"You mean, _us_?"

Ianto held back from speaking, knowing he'd only babble if he did. Encouragingly, there was no panic in Jack's expression – only hope.

"I'm a pain in the ass to live with."

"I already know that, Jack."

"I don't do domestic well."

"You're smart. You'll learn."

"I won't be the wife."

"And I'll kill you slowly if you call me the wife. I think we're reasonably well-matched."

Jack kissed Ianto lingeringly.

"Yes."

"Yes...?"

"Yes, I want to make it official, too. I want to spend the rest of your life with you. I want to make a lifetime of memories with you and Eleya, so I'll have something to cling to when you're... when I'm alone again."

Ianto distracted him with a return kiss.

"Don't be maudlin. Just appreciate what you have."

Jack's arms held Ianto possessively, whilst his gaze lingered on their daughter.

"I do. Believe me, I do."

* * *

Jal and Kyrii were waiting when the TARDIS arrived back on Mendyr, along with the Elder Council and the partners of those Mendyrians who had accompanied the travellers. It was quite the welcoming party, and Jack once again felt a touch of melancholy that he couldn't stay. It was all the more reason, though, to make the most of what time there was, including making good on a suggestion Maera had made.

As everyone stood there, just outside the TARDIS, Jack grasped Ianto's hand and turned to Mendyr's Chief Elder.

"Anna, Ianto and I have talked, and we both agree that it's time to stop pretending we only have a casual relationship. We'd like to commit to each other formally, and we'd be honoured and grateful if you'd preside over a commitment ceremony."

Anna's weary features melted into a delighted smile.

"I would be honoured to preside over it. Ianto, has Jack explained to you the particulars of this ceremony?"

"He has," Ianto confirmed.

"You each need to choose a witness to stand up for you. It should someone who holds a special place in your heart."

Ianto smiled. That was an easy choice for him.

"Toshiko," he answered.

Jack scanned the gathered crowd, and his gaze alighted fleetingly on Gwen. She had a dual look of disappointment and expectation on her face, and he knew why. The disappointment was because she continued to harbour an infatuation for him, which had expressed itself increasingly through her behaviour the closer he and Ianto became. The expectation was because he guessed that she fully expected him to choose her as his witness, even though performing that task would probably gall her enormously.

He was sorry – genuinely sorry – but she was about to be disappointed all over again, because there was at least one person present who was almost as important to him as Ianto.

"Jal," he nominated, looking to the man who had been like a father to him when he'd needed it most.

"I'd be honoured, son," Jal said warmly.

Anna nodded.

"Very good. We shall make the preparations immediately."

* * *

Jack and Ianto found themselves ushered off to separate rooms in the Council Chambers. Jal and the Doctor went with Jack to help get him ready, while Owen and Bobby went with Ianto. As Jack abandoned his usual clothes in favour of a traditional Mendyrian garment, the Doctor smiled proudly at his former companion.

"Bigger on the inside," he said with a knowing grin. Jack glanced at him, and smiled wryly.

"Thanks to you and Rose."

"Oh, no, you were already a good man, Jack. Just misguided. And you had a good reason to be angry with the universe – you just didn't remember what it was."

"I always thought I'd had my memory wiped because I'd done something wrong."

"In their eyes, you did," Jal said. "You defied them to give yourself and your daughter a better life. But it's over now, Jack. They're finished and they can't hurt you anymore. Now, stop being so maudlin and let's finish getting you ready."

Jack had to grin.

"That's what Ianto said. Stop being maudlin. I'm still trying to work out what I did to deserve him."

"You might find he's thinking much the same thing," Jal said. "C'mon, lad. You don't want to keep him waiting."

The words were barely out of his mouth when there was a knock on the door, and a familiar voice spoke.

"Jack? Can I come in?"

Jack shut his eyes and struggled not to groan.

"Gwen."

Jal frowned, sensing Jack's reticence.

"You don't have to let her in, son. Believe me, she's not got your best interests in mind. Only her own."

"No, it's okay," Jack murmured. "Just don't go away, either of you. I don't need her making a last ditch effort to win me over to her."

Jal snorted derisively, but said nothing as the Doctor let her in. Gwen ventured into the room slowly, a nervous smile on her face.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said. "I was just hoping to have a quick word." She glanced at Jal and the Doctor meaningfully. "In private, if you don't mind?"

"I mind," Jack said firmly. "They're not leaving. This is as private as you're going to get, so spit it out, Gwen. I have a commitment ceremony to get ready for."

"About that," Gwen said tentatively. "You know it won't be legally binding on Earth?"

"We know," Jack confirmed. "That's why we're going to be putting things in motion to have a civil partnership as soon as possible."

Gwen's face fell, and she looked as though she'd just had her entire world swept out from under her. Sighing, Jack abandoned his preparations and turned to face her properly.

"Gwen, I care about all of you, but I love Ianto. He keeps me grounded, he doesn't take any crap, he's smart and gorgeous and funny, Eleya loves him… but most of all, he loves _me_. Now, do you want to explain what's put the bee in your bonnet? Because I thought you accepted we were together."

"I had!" Gwen protested. "I… I do! It's just… You're the one who's always said we shouldn't be tied down by labels, but now all of a sudden you want to go exclusive? It's not you, Jack. You know it isn't."

Jack's expression darkened fractionally.

"I think I'm the only person who has the right to decide that, don't you think?"

To her credit, Gwen blushed red, but it wasn't enough to stop her.

"I'm sorry, Jack, but I care about you and I don't want to see you making a mistake."

In hindsight, she knew that such a remark could easily have provoked a real rage in the Captain. Instead, Jack sighed and shook his head as understanding dawned.

"You were fine with us being together as long as it only looked like a casual relationship. That's why you were so keen to see Eleya gone. It wasn't her personally, it was that she gives our relationship a fresh foundation. You've been out of sorts from the moment you realised that Ianto is more to me than just another shag."

By then, the faint blush had spread right across Gwen's face, humiliated as she was by the truth of the accusation. Jack sighed again, but instead of giving in to the urge to shout he wrapped her up in a fierce hug.

"Gwen, you need to accept that Ianto and I are serious about each other, and nothing is going to change that. We love each other enough that we want to commit to each other exclusively. I would have thought you'd want to encourage that."

"But you always flirt with me," she protested weakly.

"I flirt with everyone," Jack countered, trying to rein in his frustration. "It's just part of who I am. Everyone else seems to understand that. You're the only one who seems to think it means anything."

"Are you saying now that you lied?" she demanded, suddenly angry. "All that time you kept reinforcing how special I was, you were just lying to me?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack could see the darkening expressions on Jal and the Doctor's faces and he knew he had only a short time to get rid of Gwen before Jal did it for him.

"I didn't lie," he told her. "You were… You _are_ special, but that doesn't translate into a declaration of love. Now, I'm going to finish getting ready, and then I'm going to go and bond myself to the man I love. I hope you'll support us and be happy for us, but if you can't…"

"Yes?" she asked with a distinct tremor in her voice. Jack was quietly relieved that she was not so blinded by her emotions that she missed the ominous tone of his voice.

"If you can't," he told her soberly, "then I'll be doing it anyway, and you'll be facing a dose of retcon when we get home."

The shock on her face was palpable, but Jack continued on before she could protest.

"I can't tolerate a divisive presence in the team, Gwen. No matter how much I value you, the bottom line is that I value Ianto more, and I won't risk you trying to come between us in any way."

Tears abruptly filled Gwen's eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Jack thumbed them away gently.

"You have a fiancé, Gwen. Don't you think it's time you acknowledged him?"

"You expect me to settle for Rhys after you?" she whispered brokenly. Jack regarded her gravely.

"You're just settling for him, then maybe it's time to let him go. He deserves a lot better than to have someone just settle for him."

Not for the first time, Gwen looked as though she'd just been slapped.

"But what about me?"

"Today, right now, is not about you, Miss Cooper," the Doctor interrupted, deciding enough was enough. "Now I'm going to ask once, politely, to please leave."

Gwen flinched visibly under the full force of his alien stare. She looked automatically to Jack, but there was no help forthcoming from him.

"Go on," he told her quietly. "And you'd better think carefully about what you really want for your future. You've got until we get home to work it out."

Pale but finally resigned, Gwen retreated.

"She's a stubborn one," Jal remarked coolly. "We ought to let Maera sort her out. Are you all right, son?"

Jack smiled and, though he appeared weary, there was no sadness or regret to be seen in his eyes.

"I'm okay. Can we hurry this up, though? I want to go and do this before anything else happens."

The Doctor laid a reassuring hand on Jack's shoulder.

"You don't need to worry, Jack. He'll wait for you."

Jack shook his head.

"He's waited for me long enough."

* * *

Gwen left the room as quickly as her shredded dignity would allow. Her head was in a spin - that encounter had gone far differently to how she'd imagined it, and now she was embarrassed beyond measure by the reality check she'd just been served. It did nothing for her composure, either, to find Donna waiting for her, flanked by Maera and Kyrii.

"Told you she'd gone after Jack," Maera said icily. Panicked, Gwen did what came most naturally to her - she lied.

"I just wanted to wish him well. It's a big moment for him, after all."

"Dear," Kyrii said in a deceptively passive tone, "I think you've forgotten that two of us are psychic, and quite adept at reading minds. You're projecting loud and clear."

Donna sauntered forward, her expression cold and angry.

"The only thing saving you from getting a slap right now is the verbal slap you just got from Jack. How dare you try to convince him to dump Ianto for you right before they're due to have their commitment ceremony!"

"I just wanted to see if he was really sure," Gwen protested.

"About what?" Maera asked suspiciously.

"Well, that he isn't making a mistake…"

The sound of flesh striking flesh echoed resoundingly, but it wasn't Donna who had delivered the slap. It was Kyrii.

"You just stop right there, you jealous, vindictive little girl. My boy is not making a mistake. Far from it. That young man of his is perfect for him in every way, and you will not spoil it for them. Now, you have two choices. You either march yourself back to the ceremony hall and join everyone else, or Maera is going to make certain that you never remember that Jack even exists."

Gwen looked horrified, but also genuinely fearful. After witnessing the power of the Mendyrians as they'd so effectively altered the memories of the Time Agents, and after seeing what Bilis Manger had been reduced to, she had no doubt that Maera could easily do what retcon had originally failed to do - make her forget all about Torchwood and Jack.

"Jack wouldn't let you," she argued weakly.

"Jack wouldn't even know about it until afterwards, so make up your mind, child. Will you let him follow the path that he's chosen for himself? Or will you prove yourself to be no better than the Time Agency by continually interfering in his life, and with his choices?"

Gwen was stopped short by that last comparison, and the reality hit hard as it occurred to her that Kyrii was right. Her behaviour, coupled with her determination to come between Jack and Ianto, made her little better than Jack's former Time Agency masters.

"Oh my god," she whispered in horrified realisation. "It never occurred to me… Oh god, I'm sorry…"

Any sympathy she thought she might have gotten, though, was not forthcoming. Instead, Donna pointed down the corridor and spoke tersely.

"Save for your actual boyfriend. Move it."

Gwen went, all protests effectively silenced.

* * *

Owen glanced at Gwen with a frown as the Welshwoman slid into a seat beside him. She stared straight ahead, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Where did you disappear to?"

"Nowhere," she said shortly. "It's not important."

Silence met her retort, and then he spoke softly and not unsympathetically.

"Let me guess. Jack finally got you to understand that it's Ianto he wants."

Gwen's silence spoke volumes. Owen shook his head.

"For someone who makes such a huge deal about respecting others, you've done a damned good job of disrespecting Jack and Ianto."

"All right, Owen," Gwen hissed, but he wasn't done.

"I just don't get it. I thought you'd accepted them long ago. Did you really believe that you still stood a chance with Jack, even after he got together with Ianto?"

Gwen glowered at the floor, both embarrassed and angry at the unnerving accuracy of everyone's assessment of her feelings towards Jack. Cornered once more, she bit back instead of conceding.

"He's the one who always says that he doesn't like labels. Ianto ought to know by now that Jack isn't the type of man to be tied to one relationship."

Owen's eyebrows shot up, recalling Gwen's furious reaction when she found out that he'd been with Diane.

"So… It wouldn't bother you if Jack cheated on Ianto to be with you? Or would you expect him to dump Ianto altogether for you?"

"I'm capable of satisfying a man," Gwen said. She knew in her heart how petulant she sounded, but was at a loss to stop herself. Owen uttered an incredulous noise.

"You bloody hypocrite, Cooper. You don't see a problem with jumping into bed with any bloke while you keep Rhys on reserve, but those blokes are all supposed to be exclusive? Bloody hell, what did I ever see in you?"

"Shut it, Owen," Gwen whispered hoarsely, suddenly acutely conscious of the sideways looks she was getting from the Mendyrians who were gathering. Owen, however, had no intention of letting it go without a parting shot.

"Jack made his choice long ago, and that choice is to be faithful to Ianto for the duration of Ianto's life. You've got no right to interfere with that choice, so just deal with it."

Gwen slumped miserably in her chair. If anyone could have understood her situation, she thought it should have been Owen. It seemed she was on her own with her waning belief that she and Jack were destined to have a special relationship. She was so lost in her musing and her misery that it took her completely by surprise when Owen gave her a none-too-gentle nudge.

"Bloody stand up, will you?"

Startled and embarrassed all over again, Gwen stood up so fast that she nearly knocked her chair over. She glanced around surreptitiously, but no one was paying her any heed. Instead, their attention was on the back of the hall. She looked, and felt her heart break anew as it finally began to sink in that Jack had never, and would never be hers.

* * *

Jack and Ianto entered the hall hand in hand, and Ianto faltered momentarily in the doorway at the staggering sight that greeted them. It wasn't the spectacular decorations that had been put up in such a short time, or even the regal sight of Anna waiting for them at the other end. What brought him up short was the sheer volume of people crowded into the hall, looking on with joyful expressions.

"It's all right," Jack murmured. "These are all the people that I came to know the last time I was on Mendyr."

"Please tell me you didn't shag any of them," Ianto muttered, and Jack laughed.

"No, not one, I promise. Eleya was my whole world while I was here. I wasn't remotely interested in finding a partner. You are the only one in this room… on this _planet_ that I've ever known in the carnal sense. Now, c'mon. Anna's waiting for us."

Ianto moved at Jack's gentle insistence, and they walked together down the length of the hall. As they passed row after row of Mendyrians, Ianto felt wave upon wave of warmth sweep through him, filling him with confidence, joy and love.

"Jack…?" he asked softly, and his lover smiled beatifically.

"It's a kind of reverse empathy. They're projecting their joy onto us to let us know how happy they are for us."

Ianto sighed happily, revelling in the sensation. They approached Anna, who smiled at them welcomingly.

"Jack and Ianto," she began, "you stand here now to confirm that which you have already decided; that you wish to bond your lives together, for as long as you both shall live. Do you still wish to be bonded?"

"We do," they answered him in unison. Anna nodded and stepped in close so she could lay a hand on each of their shoulders.

"In our world, bonding is more than just spoken words. It is a bonding on the heart, the soul and the mind. Are you both prepared to take this step?"

"We are," they answered. Satisfied, Anna looked beyond them.

"Would the chosen witnesses please come forward?" Toshiko and Jal approached. Anna smiled warmly at them before speaking again. "You have both been chosen to bear witness to this union. Do you support them wholeheartedly and without reservation?"

"We do," Jal and Tosh responded.

"Then we are ready," Anna declared. "Jack and Ianto, please come and sit down."

At Anna's gentle urging, they seated themselves on the floor, facing each other.

"You have committed to each other in heart, mind and soul," Anna said, and though her words could be heard by all, they were clearly meant for the couple seated in front of her. "This bond is unbreakable, even in death. You may each come to love others in your lifetimes, but this bond will remain true in this life and the next." She laid a hand gently on each of their heads. "I can't promise you both an easy road, but it will be worthwhile. Tell me, are you ready?"

Jack reached out immediately for Ianto's hands, and the younger man offered them without hesitation.

"We're ready," Jack said for them both. Anna looked to Jal and Tosh, who stood close behind Jack and Ianto expectantly. She applied gentle pressure, guiding the two men to rest their foreheads together.

"Close your eyes, dear ones, and concentrate on each other. Become one and let your love for each other be the only thing that matters. Feel yourself slipping into each other's minds, deeper and deeper until you no longer know where one ends and the other begins."

Slowly, Jack and Ianto slumped against each other as they slipped into an induced sleep. Behind them, Jal and Tosh took gentle hold of them and laid them down gently so that their foreheads were still touching.

Smiling with satisfaction, Anna stood up straight and addressed the crowded room.

"You have all borne witness to Jack and Ianto's commitment to each other. Remember it well. Now, all shall adjourn to the celebration hall. When they awaken, the bonding will be complete, and we will celebrate this joyous moment together."

* * *

At the moment that Jack and Ianto collapsed against each other Gwen started in her seat, only to be stopped by Donna who was sitting immediately behind her.

"Don't you dare, missy. Nothing is going to interrupt this."

"But what is she doing to them?" Gwen demanded anxiously.

"It's part of the bonding ceremony, Gwen," Bobby explained. "One of the Elders told me about it earlier. First they verbally confirm their commitment to each other, and then their minds and souls are bonded together."

"Are they really all right?" Gwen wondered. Maera smiled, sensing only genuine concern from the other woman now.

"Of course they are. Look."

Kyrii had collected Eleya, and was guiding the little girl over to her parents. Far from being distressed, Eleya was smiling brightly. She went first to Ianto and then to Jack, kissing each man on the cheek in turn.

"Love you, Tad. Love you, Dada."

Kyrii then echoed the gesture, leaning over to press a gentle kiss to each man's temple.

"All the blessings of the universe be with you today and always, my sons."

Satisfied, she took Eleya's hand and the two joined the exodus from the hall.

"You see?" Maera assured Gwen. "They're fine. If they weren't, we'd have a hysterical little girl on our hands right now."

"How long?" Gwen asked. "Before they wake up, I mean."

"It shouldn't be too long," Maera said. "Maybe half an hour… an hour at the most. Anna will stay with them, and bring them to the other hall when they wake up."

"All right, then," Donna growled impatiently. "Let's get moving, before all the food gets eaten."

Maera laughed out loud as they followed the departing crowd.

"Don't worry about _that_. I guarantee there'll be plenty for everyone."

* * *

Anna watched silently as the hall cleared and the doors were closed. She then sat down in her seat, and waited.

* * *

"So this is what it's like to be inside your mind?"

Jack smiled at the lazy question.

"I hope you're not mocking me, Mr Jones."

Ianto smiled in return and closed his eyes against the warm sunshine that beat down on them. They lay together on a bed of soft, cool green grass, an oasis in the middle of a bed of sand dunes, with a glimpse of turquoise-coloured ocean just beyond the rolling hills. They were shaded by the over-sized branches of a tree, with just enough gaps to let the sunshine through – enough to warm them without blinding them. It was peaceful and calming, and Ianto was in no hurry to leave.

"Never," he reassured Jack. "I'm just curious. Is this anything like where you come from?"

"Boeshane? A little. I guess it's more a mix of all the placed I've ever been where I've felt safe. This is the most private part of my mind, Ianto. You're the only one to ever be given access."

"I'm honoured," Ianto told him sincerely. "This bond, though... Can it go both ways?"

Jack smiled knowingly. An instant later, the warm, tropical scape was gone, and they found themselves sitting on a soft bed in a little room that overlooked a snow-covered landscape.

"My gran's home," Ianto explained. "This was where I escaped to when I couldn't deal with my dad's expectations. It's where I stayed after he broke my arm."

Jack tensed and Ianto shuddered as he felt a wash of anger flow through him. _That_ was an interesting side effect of the bonding.

"It was an accident," Ianto assured Jack. "He didn't mean for it to happen, and I'm not trying to defend him out of some misplaced sense of loyalty. I was seven and he took me and Rhiannon to a playground... It wasn't long after Mam had a breakdown and had to be taken away to Providence Park. Anyway, I was on a swing and he wanted me to go higher because some kid on the swing beside me was swinging high. I didn't want to, so he just grabbed the swing and pushed. He pushed too hard and before I was ready for it. I fell off at the highest point, and landed badly. My arm was broken in three places. Dad was sick with guilt over it, but it didn't stop him from keeping on trying to push me in everything I did."

"I'm sorry," Jack murmured. Ianto hesitated, and then decided it was all in or not at all.

"He wasn't a master tailor, either. I mean, he was good enough to be one, but he never got any further in his career than the menswear department in Debenham's."

Jack pulled Ianto in close to him and pressed a loving kiss to the side of his neck.

"Were you ashamed of that?"

"No... but it did make me mad that he was on my case all the time when that was the highest his career ever went. Seemed a little hypocritical, you know?"

"Mm. All dads want to see their sons excel."

"Yours too?"

"Yeah. Not as bad as yours, but yeah. It's part of the reason why I went to war so young. For a long time after he died, I spent my life trying to live up to his expectations. I guess in a way, I still am."

"It's going to be okay," Ianto murmured, hugging Jack in return. "We have each other, and Eleya."

Jack held Ianto all the more tightly, and joy swept through the both of them, enhanced and amplified by their new bond.

"Yes. We do."

* * *

They awoke simultaneously, and for a few minutes were content to just lay there in each other's arms. It took a few minutes before they became aware that they were being observed.

"Anna?" Jack queried, while at the same time rubbing his hands up and down Ianto's back to reassure the younger man that they had nothing to be embarrassed about. "Is everything okay?"

She rose gracefully from her seat and approached the two men as they sat up.

"Everything is fine. When you're both ready, I will take you to the celebration hall. All are waiting to celebrate your union; Eleya especially."

Jack squeezed Ianto's hand.

"_Our_ little girl."

Try as he might, and that wasn't very hard, Ianto could not stop the enormous grin that spread across his face. He was on his feet almost before he realised it, and was urging Jack up as well.

"C'mon, cariad. Let's go join our little girl."

* * *

Gwen eventually made her way over to the side of the hall, watching the festivities in resigned silence. The words of everyone she'd spoken to that day whirled through her mind, but it was Jack's words above all that stuck. He was right, even though she was loathed to admit it. She had been fine with the two of them being together, but only whilst she'd thought their relationship to be casual... or, more specifically, temporary. When it had become obvious that there was nothing temporary about it, that was when she'd reacted negatively, and with Eleya there to complete their little family, she had seen the door closing permanently on any chance she might have had with Jack.

Basically, she'd panicked.

And then she was confronted with the other point Jack had made, that Rhys deserved better than to have her just settle for him. It had cut her quite badly that Jack had been the one to point out how abysmally she was treating her fiancée. Jack, who had a reputation that put any street walker to shame, was settling down with his lover and child, while she continued to lust after what she'd always known in her heart that she couldn't have.

As though on cue, to simply highlight her pain, the doors opened and Anna led in the newly bonded couple. They looked so happy, and at first Gwen wanted to weep at the perceived injustice of it. It physically hurt her to see Jack and Ianto so happy together, and that in turn shamed her deeply. She watched with a searing combination of guilt and jealousy as Eleya ran to her parents, and they lifted her between them. As applause erupted, she struggled to put on a brave face as any remaining shreds of her most secret fantasies crumbled.

"It's not the end of anything, you know."

Gwen started a little at the unexpected voice. She looked up to find Bobby standing beside her, smiling kindly, and had to fight a desire to snap at him. He was making a genuine effort to be nice and the least she could do was not bite his head off.

"How do you mean?" she asked, quietly hating how strained her voice sounded. Bobby sank into the chair beside her – something that she was immensely grateful for as it saved her from straining her neck to look up at him.

"You love Jack," Bobby said plainly, "but you have to let him go. If you don't, it's only going to end up hurting you, because no one else is going to tolerate any interference in their relationship. You need to ask yourself, are you really willing to risk losing everything? Would it be worth it?"

The questions were rhetorical, but Gwen couldn't help but answer them.

"No, I'm not, and no, it wouldn't be worth it." She looked to where Jack and Ianto slowly making their way through the crowd, accepting the multitudes of congratulations as they went. They were headed in her direction, she realised with mild alarm. It seemed she had to options – either turn tail and run from them like a coward, or deal with her issues fast and face them properly.

Gwen sucked in a long breath and fortified herself. She may have been many things, some of them not always good, but she was no coward. She stood up, her gaze fixed on Jack and Ianto and finally taking in all the tiny things that she'd always so conveniently ignored. She saw their fingers lingering within touching distance even when they weren't holding hands. She saw the brief glances they shared every few seconds, glances that were full of love and adoration.

They were the same looks that she got on a regular basis from Rhys.

Abruptly, that one thought brought an onslaught of memories, and that finally broke the last of her resolve.

"I love Jack," she whispered to herself, "but not in the way I love Rhys."

And suddenly, Jack and Ianto were standing in front of her with Eleya. Buoyed by her moment of clarity, Gwen managed her first real smile of the day.

"Congratulations," she told them sincerely.

"Thank you," Ianto murmured, leaning in to kiss her cheek. Jack emulated the gesture. Both men were startled, though, and so was Gwen when Eleya let go of the two men and leaned across to wrap her little arms around Gwen's neck in a fierce hug.

The Welshwoman gasped a little in astonishment at the little girl's sudden and apparent acceptance, and that astonishment quickly changed to near overwhelming emotion as any remaining tensions finally evaporated. She hugged Eleya back as Bobby offered his congratulations to Jack and Ianto, and felt genuine joy when Eleya murmured "Aunty Gwen" against her shoulder.

"It's because you've finally accepted Jack and Ianto together as a couple," Bobby guessed as the family moved away to greet other well-wishers.

"How do you mean?" Gwen wondered as she wiped self-consciously at her eyes.

"Well, you've accepted them, so Eleya's finally accepted you. She's psychic, Gwen. She had to be picking up on your emotions. Now you've resolved them, she's happy to accept you."

Gwen had to concede that made sense. She gazed up at Bobby, impressed by his perception.

"You really do see a lot, don't you, Bobby?"

His expression turned slightly melancholy, but contrary to how he might have reacted to the same remark even just six months ago, he didn't brush her off.

"My mother was a paranoid schizophrenic and my dad was a mean drunk, I learnt early in life to be very observant. It's not always been a good thing, though. Not everyone likes being dissected. I pissed off a lot of people, especially in the NYPD. They didn't often appreciate my... my skill set."

She covered his hand lightly with her own and offered him a warm smile.

"You'll always be appreciated by us."

* * *

"I really never thought I'd see this place again," Jack murmured almost reverently as he crossed the threshold of Jal and Kyrii's home. "I missed this place so much when we were in hiding."

After the celebrations had finally wound down, a unanimous decision had been made to remain on Mendyr for the night, and return home when everyone was fully refreshed. While the Doctor chose to retreat to the TARDIS, everyone else was offered accommodation within the Council Chambers. The exception was Jack, Ianto and Eleya, who went with Jal and Kyrii back to their home. It was an emotional home-coming for Jack especially, even more-so than coming back to Mendyr after so long away.

"We missed you being here," Kyrii said. "Now, we can easily put Eleya up in her old room. I think she'll be quite happy with that. The two of you should be quite comfortable in your room, Jack. I think the bed should be big enough to accommodate you both. There's plenty of room for movement, I think..."

"Kyrii, don't embarrass them," Jal said gruffly as Ianto reddened at the obvious suggestion in her words. "Boys, before you do disappear, come and sit down for a few minutes. We have a proposition we'd like to put to you."

Jack frowned, but kept an admirable silence, choosing to wait until they'd heard the older couple out.

"Eleya needs training," Jal said plainly, "and you can't give that to her, not on your own." Pain flared in Jack's eyes, and Jal reached out quickly to grasp his hand in reassurance. "I'm not trying to pick faults, son. It's just the simple truth."

"Are you suggesting that we leave Eleya here with you?" Ianto asked. He made no effort to hide the hostility and disappointment he was suddenly experiencing. He had honestly expected better from the couple that Jack viewed as surrogate parents. Kyrii, however, smiled gently and shook her head.

"No, sweetheart. What we're suggesting is that we come with you when you return to Earth."

The statement floored both men, and even when Jack found his voice he could do little more than stammer.

"Kyrii... It's an amazing offer, but you have to understand... Both of you have to understand that it's not like travelling to the next town to stay. You can't just come home for the weekends. If you could with us, it might mean not coming home at all."

"Jack, we do understand," Jal assured him. "We talked it over thoroughly after we discovered that Eleya and snuck back onto the TARDIS. It's clear that she won't be separated from you, and that is as it should be. It's also clear that you won't forsake your responsibilities, and we are so proud of you for that. So that leaves just one option, that someone from Mendyr should accompany you back to Earth and stay on to teach Eleya. Logically, Kyrii and I are the best and only choice."

"But you'd be leaving everything behind," Jack said, though his will to argue was rapidly failing. "Your home, family, friends... Your whole life!"

Kyrii stood and walked around to stand by Jack. She stroked her fingertips lightly down the side of his face and smiled lovingly.

"The choice is ours, and we have already decided. Our lives are tied to yours, Jack. They have been from the day that Jal found you on the road. We love you as a son, and Eleya is our grandchild in every way but blood. We are going to come with you and hopefully make that path ahead of you a little easier to walk."

"Sappy," Jack whispered, even as he let himself be wrapped up in Kyrii's embrace. She smiled lovingly at both men, and the child who sat happily between them.

"Just the truth, dear one. Just the truth."

* * *

_to be continued..._


	30. Epilogue

In the end, everything seemed to just fall neatly into place, which Jack had no complaints with. After the recent chaos, it was a pleasant change to have everything work out to everyone's advantage.

Anna gave her blessing to Jal and Kyrii for their decision to go with Jack and Eleya to Earth, and the Doctor promised to bring them home to Mendyr whenever they wished. It was decided that the couple would be set up in a house close to Jack and Ianto's home, and they would take care of Eleya when the two men were working. It solved the issue of the appropriateness of having a child in the Hub, and allowed for plenty of time to teach Eleya basic control of her abilities before she became old enough to go to Kindergarten. It also allowed for Jal and Kyrii to spend significant time with the little girl that they loved.

It was a win-win situation all round.

Joss needed little convincing to agree to join the Torchwood team. He liked Bobby and was quickly coming to like Alex just as much. The two former detectives were enthusiastic about having Joss join them, and even the Doctor conceded that the man's knowledge could only benefit the new Torchwood outpost. From Joss's perspective, he was just grateful to have the opportunity to make a new life for himself, and to be doing something meaningful without the threat of the Time Agency hanging over his head.

Their departure from Mendyr saddened Jack, but unlike the last time it didn't break his heart. He knew that he would see Mendyr again and the certainty of that knowledge comforted him. Having Jal and Kyrii with them was also a comfort, one that was welcomed by both Jack and Ianto.

There was, however, still some unfinished business to attend to, which Alex reluctantly brought up in the control room of the TARDIS.

"I'm not sure if this is the right way to ask," she said tentatively, "but when will we be landing? And I don't mean how long it'll take. It's just, there might be a bit of a mess that needed cleaning up that isn't exactly suitable for certain eyes."

"The Time Agent that was... left behind," Ianto murmured. Alex was right and of course they'd all forgotten in the chaos of unfolding events.

"We'll be landing on the Plass," the Doctor answered, "approximately an hour after we left. Perhaps some of you might like to take Eleya for some ice cream while Jack and I deal with..._ it_."

"I'll help you," Bobby offered. Jack started to reject the offer, but changed his mind at the last moment.

"I'd appreciate that. Thank you."

* * *

Ianto, Jal, Kyrii, Gwen, Tosh and Donna took Eleya for the promised ice cream. Bobby and Owen returned to the Hub with Jack and the Doctor.

"I just hope the bloody pterodactyl hasn't tried to eat him," Owen said curtly.

"I've got a strong stomach," Bobby reassured him, and Owen smirked.

"Wasn't worried about you, mate."

"Don't be rude," Jack chided. "I'm sure we're all capable of dealing with a little bit of... mess. Besides, Ianto trained Myfanwy well. She won't eat anything that's not covered in her protein sauce."

The smirk quickly faded from Owen's face as unwanted memories came to the fore.

"Right," he said. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Both Bobby and the Doctor were able to make an educated guess that the sudden tension between Jack and Owen alluded to something serious, and both chose not to pursue it. Instead, they descended on the lift in silence, until they finally came within sight of the body.

"No sign of decomp," Bobby observed as they approached the body.

"Or signs of being eaten," Owen remarked with audible relief. "Rigor mortis has only just started to set in. We can't have been gone from here even an hour."

The Doctor looked smugly at Jack.

"I trust there'll be no more jokes about my driving skills?"

Jack held his hands up defensively.

"Not saying a word. Owen, head downstairs and get the furnace going."

"He's not going in the vault?" Owen wondered in surprise.

"The body has to be disposed of," Jack said firmly. "It, and everything on it. He's not from this time. There are too many risks of a paradox if we don't incinerate him."

"I take it he had no family, then?" Bobby asked. Jack shook his head, marvelling quietly that while that was normally a question Gwen would ask, he couldn't imagine Gwen asking it without sounding angry, accusatory and demanding. Coming from Bobby, it was just a simple question, with no expectations attached to it.

"No. Not many Time Agents did. I was one of the few who was recruited with family still living."

Again, Jack's words alluded to a fascinating story, but Jack never elaborated and his companions never asked. They carried the body to the incinerator in silence, and didn't speak a word until the task was done.

"Not the most pleasant of jobs," the Doctor remarked once they'd finished cleaning up both the Hub and themselves.

"But one that's necessary," Jack said, looking pointedly at Bobby as he spoke. The big American looked unperturbed, and simply shrugged.

"I'm prepared for it. So is Alex."

"It's not a preferable part of the job," Jack said, talking again to the Doctor, "but sometimes it's something that we just have to do. To give credit where it's due, it's because of Gwen that we give the dead a lot more dignity than we used to. Before she joined, we just covered up deaths and we didn't care. Deaths still have to be covered up, but the dead are treated with respect, thanks to Gwen."

"Good for her, then," the Doctor murmured approvingly.

They were crossing the floor of the Hub to the lift when a piercing cry split the air, and Myfanwy landed with a thud in front of them.

"There you are, you beautiful thing," the Doctor crooned enthusiastically, reaching out towards her. He was quick to jump back, though, when she snapped irritably at his outstretched hand. "Oi!"

Owen chortled in amusement.

"Glad to see it isn't just me, then," he retorted. Jack laughed softly.

"She just doesn't know you, Doctor. That's all. Isn't that right, sweetheart?" He rubbed her affectionately along her beak, and down her neck, inducing strange warbling noises from her. "Good girl, Myfanwy. You protected your nest beautifully."

Bobby approached as well, and joined Jack in stroking the pterodactyl's neck.

"Thank you for saving Alex. Tomorrow, I'm going to bring in some chocolate, just for you."

"Oh, that's lovely," Owen retorted. "She's known me longer, but I still can't get near her without nearly losing a limb."

"Get over it, Owen," Jack told him unsympathetically as Myfanwy hopped away and launched herself back into the air, circling back up towards her eyrie.

Owen shook his head.

"Okay, so what's the plan now?"

"We get Jal and Kyrii settled," Jack mused as they rode the lift back up to the Plass. "We deal with clean-up at this end... I get the feeling we're going to have to do a lot of smoothing over with the local police... I might also see if Tosh can work out a program for teaching Eleya English. We need to get Joss trained, as well as continuing with yours and Alex's training, Bobby... I'll need to find somewhere for Joss to live in New York, too. I don't want him living on-site the way I used to."

"He can stay with me to start with," Bobby offered. "I have a spare bedroom in my apartment, and it'll give him a chance to get acclimatised to the city."

Jack nodded in approval.

"That'll give me a bit more time to get things organised."

"You mean, it'll give Ianto more time," Owen retorted. Jack rolled his eyes in a gesture that was eerily reminiscent of his younger lover, but didn't argue.

* * *

It was a happy, boisterous group that awaited them at the ice cream parlour. Jack was not in the least bit surprised to find Eleya seated comfortably on Ianto's lap, with an enormous ice cream sundae in front of her.

"I'm not going to ask who's responsible for this," Jack said wryly as he sat beside his partner and their daughter.

"It was a joint effort," Ianto chuckled, accepting without reservation the kiss Jack leaned in to give him.

"Dada," Eleya said brightly, lifting an over-loaded spoonful towards Jack. Grinning, he opened his mouth to receive it, only to end up with most of it on his face. Eleya giggled wildly, happily oblivious to the mixed groans and laughter when Ianto dead-panned that he'd help him clean up later on. Jack accepted a napkin from one of his team and a hug from his little girl, at the same time marvelling that for once, life seemed pretty damn good.

"All right?" Ianto asked softly, catching Jack's hand and squeezing it lightly. Jack paused to look around them before answering. He was surrounded by old friends and new; he had a family, where not so long ago he'd abandoned any thought or hope of ever having family with him again.

For the time being, at least, life didn't seem quite so bleak. He looked into Ianto's concerned eyes and smiled – not the blinding, thousand mega-watt smile that everyone was used to, but the small and genuine smile that reflected his happiness and contentment better than any words could. The two men smiled at each other without needing to speak. Everything they were thinking and feeling was communicated easily to each other through their bond.

They would continue to train Bobby and Alex, and now Joss as well, in preparation for them running Torchwood Five. Jal and Kyrii would be settled in Cardiff and papers and documents would be prepared to identify them officially as Jack's parents; and, most importantly, Eleya was finally where she belonged.

For the time being, life was good.

* * *

_Fin._


End file.
